Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I don't understand why this is much of an issue? The entire country understands Inches, Feet, degrees Fahrenheit, and such. Why change it? It works, does it not? Yea, conversions might be a little more difficult, but if you tell me some place is 10 kilometers away, I have to think for a minute to figure out how long that is. If you instead say it's 6 miles, that I can instantly understand.
Q: Hey, Henry Ford… we heard you’ve invented this wonderful thing called a Model T and it would have revolutionized transportation, making it so much easier for humanity. But now there is a ‘For Sale’ sign in your shop. You’ve given up on the idea. What happened?
A: Well, yeah. It’s true. Basically, I’ve decided that things are just fine the way they are. We don’t need any upstart newfangled ideas like that. Horses seem to work great. If it ain't broken don't fix it. Besides, I’ve decided that even though it might be easier to travel in one of my autos, it does seem a bit ‘nerdy’ to me. And we ain't nerds. You know, horses are just so cool… just like our English measurement system.
Are we as a nation up for some sort of international penalty if we don't convert to metric?
We do lots of things other nations don't. We like sports such as baseball and football rather than soccer. We hold elections rather than having revolutions every few years. We permit freedom of speech. And we use the English system of measurement! You want metric, use metric. But don't complain when nobody else is following your lead.
Are we as a nation up for some sort of international penalty if we don't convert to metric?
We do lots of things other nations don't. We like sports such as baseball and football rather than soccer. We hold elections rather than having revolutions every few years. We permit freedom of speech. And we use the English system of measurement! You want metric, use metric. But don't complain when nobody else is following your lead.
It doesn't matter that much to me; I can use both But, the reasoning (or lack of) behind the resistance really baffles me. It's interesting (especially here in the US) that everyone WANTS to do things the hard way. That's very rare for us Yanks. Usually, we actually like doing it the easy way.
I will say that it doesn't surprise me at all, though. A similar situation is our English spelling conventions. Many are not even English conventions (much of our vocabulary comes from French). The system we use for spelling is absolutely ridiculous... yet everyone is content with it. When Noah Webster (author of the first significant dictionary in the US) suggested spelling reform in 1806, he got the same response that we give to the metric system. And here we are still spelling in the same contorted way. (I think I might just start a new thread about that--should ruffle some feathers).
Tradition for no other reason than tradition can be VERY strong.
The metric system allows grocery stores to rip you off... I have already seen it in Europe... is that what you really want?
How does it do that (pl refer to post 18 also)? If you do not know what a litre is, that is not the metric unit's problem. Similarly, if a European does not know how much a gallon is, it is not the US system's problem.
The entire civilized world outside of the U.S. uses SI metrics, where as the U.S. is still stuck on ridiculously outdated measures such as feet, inches, pounds, fahrenheit, etc. Can we somehow persuade Joe Sixpack to turn off television for five minutes and get acquainted with the SI system, or are we destined to continue to embarrass ourselves with units of measure the rest of the world ditched when the horse and buggy went out of style?
I like using both. It's a good way to keep the mind strong and practicing math in your head.
Doing thermodynamic equations it would be stupid not to know how to use the metric system. Kelvin, Rankin, Celsius...etc are widely used.
The US automakers switched to metric years ago so that they could bolt a transmission made in their factories in Brazil to an engine made in Mexico and install them in a car made in Tennessee.
If you check the numbers on the speedometer in the US the miles are large numbers and kilometers are small. In Canada it is reversed. When you cross the border you just look at the other numbers.
The liquor industry switched to metric years ago. This has not diminished the number of drunks one bit. Kids still buy soda when it comes in 2 liter bottles.
Before Canada switched to liters, gas was sold by the Imperial gallon which is larger than the US gallon.
The solution is to phase in the change by product lines. Liquor and soda have already changed. Next could be gasoline, dairy products, paint followed by canned goods and boxed items like cookies and cereal. Other products would follow.
Actually, quite the opposite is the case. The US is one of only three countries (the other two being Liberia and Burma) which does not use the SI Metric System. This causes a wide array of problems for international business and trade. Our cars have spedometers reading in miles, so they can't be sold as is anywhere else in the world. Same with a variety of other products. Already, many US businesses use the metric system privately. Scientists use the metric system, but have to go through the conversion process to translate their work for the US public and government. We have a hell of a time converting research materials from other countries and there are a variety of issues for computing internationally that come up. All in all, the US probably loses millions of dollars every year because we don't follow the SI Metric System.
I have a 1994 Buick and it has both MPH, and KPH...don't most cars?
I don't think there is really that much friction as people suppose that there is in switching. I think the only thing truly stopping us from switching is inertia. Sure some may complain about the transition, but I don't know anyone who doesn't think that switching will be beneficial.
Sure some may complain about the transition, but I don't know anyone who doesn't think that switching will be beneficial.
There is substantial issues and expenses involved with this, replacing every speed limit and distance sign on the highway?
The construction industry is the biggest hurdle and really insurmountable. Most structures in the US unless they are really old are built with the main structure having 16 inch centers. You can take a sheet of 4'*8' material and put it on your wall, ceiling, floor or any other surface and the ends are going to fall onto the center of the stud, joist or whatever. Even a modern skyscraper that was designed with metric is going to have the inside non structural walls built using standard measurements.
That leaves you with only a few possibilities.
1)Complete switch to metric sized material using logical dimensions, very expensive and wasteful. Every piece of material would have to be cut to fit onto the sixteen inch centers. This is no trivial expense, it's huge amount of extra work and you are going to have mounds of wasted material.
2)Dual system, also expensive becsue of stocking etc. Contractors would have no interest in using metric sized material anyway and would opt for the standard material.
3)Relabel standard sized dimensions using odd sized metric dimension. This is the only practical solution ,it's still a 4'*8' piece of plywood and somewhat defeats the purpose of metric which is simplify things.
It's not just the surface material, it's anything in the house. All of this material has been designed to fit together nicely to minimize waste. For example some very old homes may have true 2"*4"'s. If you are going to renovate such a home you either need to special order full sized lumber, cut larger pieces to the right dimension or fur a standard sized "2*4" out to true 2"*4". This same issue would exist if we switched to metric sized material.
If you want another example consider freight. Companies will try and design their products so they will fit onto a standard sized pallet(s). The trucks moving that palleted material are sized to fit the pallet. Loading docks, forklifts, cranes, parking spaces, train cars and a plethora of other things are designed to fit the size of the truck.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
But, the reasoning (or lack of) behind the resistance really baffles me. It's interesting (especially here in the US) that everyone WANTS to do things the hard way. That's very rare for us Yanks. Usually, we actually like doing it the easy way.
