why is the S parameter to hdparm so ridiculous?

From: Mark (none_at_xxxyyy.com)
Date: 05/23/04 

Date: Sun, 23 May 2004 14:47:46 -0400

man hdparm:

"Values from 1 to 240 specify multiples of 5 seconds, for timeouts from
5 seconds to 20 minutes. Values from 241 to 251 specify from 1 to 11
units of 30 minutes, for timeouts from 30 minutes to 5.5 hours. A
value of 252 signifies a timeout of 21 minutes, 253 sets a
vendor-defined timeout, and 255 is interpreted as 21 minutes plus
15 seconds."

This looks crazy, why can't the user just put in the
S value in straight seconds or minutes?

Mark

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