Math problem that is driving the Internet crazy

[Smaug]

What is the correct answer to:

8 divided by 2(2+2)

Is it 1? Or is it 16?

At first, I said 1, but then I looked at it again and reckoned it's actually 16. But it could be 1, though ... huh?

Then I realized the trick here is that parenthesis, should we take care of that parenthesis first (and then have 1 as the answer), or should we treat it as a multiplication and hence the answer should be 16.

I think the answer has to be 16, but if so, then PEDMAS guideline would be a little misleading.

---

Ok, so here's why I think the answer is 16:

Before anything else, let's rephrase the problem a little so it's clearer what the answer should be later:

8 divided by 2 times (2 + 2)

First take care of parentheses:

8 divided by 2 times (4)

becomes

8 divided by 2 times 4

And then we have multiplication and division left, same level of precedence, so we start left to right

8 divided 2 = 4, and 4 times 4 = 16

There are two reasons for the apparent ambiguity.

The first one is the choice of notation. You can potentially interpret the initial problem both as 8 / [2 * (2 + 2)] and as (8 / 2) * (2 + 2) which brings different results.

The other thing is that division is a non-associative operation. For example,
(8 / 2) / 2 is not equal to 8 / (2 / 2) and (8 / 2) * 2 is not equal to 8 / (2 * 2).
You can't move the parentheses (i. e. change the order of operations) without changing the result.