Ever since digital scales were introduced in the latter half of the twentieth century, accurate measurements of weight (even down to the thousandth of a gram) have become available to the public at very reasonable prices. Thanks to the invention of load cells — electronic devices that translate a change in pressure to a digital readout — scales no longer depend on springs or balances to determine weight. As a result, digital scales are now in use in a wide variety of contexts. Jewelers, large industrial factories, mail-order internet companies, laboratory workers, medical marijuana dispensaries, and those in the pharmaceutical industry all rely on digital scales to give an accurate reading.
Perhaps the most widely used digital scale is the bathroom scale. While some prefer the simplicity of analog scales for keeping track of their body weight, digital bathroom scales can be very useful, and range in complexity from a simple scale that will tell you your weight to the nearest pound, to scales that will not only tell you your weight to the ounce but will even, by sending a mild electric current through your body (not even strong enough to feel), calculate your body mass index.
Kitchen scales are also popular with those who are concerned with nutrition. Having a kitchen scale not only lets you be sure you have the correct amount of a given ingredient, but also enables you to measure the weight of liquids (just subtract the weight of the empty container) and even, with the correct calculations, to deduce the nutritional content of some foods.
Digital postal scales also see very wide use. The United States Postal Service uses digital scales to determine the correct amount to charge for shipping, but of course business owners everywhere (whether of a small business or a large-scale operation) use digital postal scales to determine shipping costs. If a business has a high shipping volume, small miscalculations here can have large consequences to the profit of the business, so an accurate digital scale can be a valuable business tool.
Precision scales, as the name suggests, are the most precise, and give the finest readings. Precision scales are used in laboratories and in the pharmaceutical industry, but might also be used in commercial kitchens. There are even high-precision pocket digital scales, which can be used by jewelry or coin collectors to accurately assess the value of a potential purchase.
