Why haven't we gone metric yet? (bill, Reagan, school, administration)

[parfleche]

most tapes are dual really? how bout table saw fences or thickness planners,framing squares. nah never happen in my lifetime.

[roysoldboy]

Originally Posted by TempesT68

Those old eyes may be deceiving you there roys The US auto manufactures started using metric bolts popping up as early as the late 70's and were pretty much exclusive by the early 80's. There is no way a 93' truck has no metric bolts.

Now I see what my error was. When you say no metric bolts you aren't referring to all, it seems, but just most or some. I can't argue with that.

[workingclasshero]

Originally Posted by GregW

I try to avoid units like cubits and square rods. [/color]

let's not forget leagues, stones and hands

I weight 13 stone.......183lbs


and temps have always been fun

if some one says its 23 degrees out...is that a cold 23F or a comfy 23c(73f)

and forget about kelvin

[Gemdiver]

I prefer quarter-pounder with cheese instead of royale with cheese.

[Neuling]

Originally Posted by rbohm

we are slowly switching over to the metric system in this country. just look around your for the proof. for instance we sell beverages in bottles some are sold as ounces, some are sold as liters. engines these days are all listed in their metric displacements, fasteners for automobiles are pretty much all metric these days, though there are still some SAE spec fasteners. we are a stubborn country though, we have been using the SAE standard for more than 150 years for measurements, but our money has always been metric, go figure.

In science Americans also use the metric system, it is natural as science is very international...

In everyday life, well, who cares. It can be difficult to switch to different units because after years or decades of life one has a feeling for dimensions. It is the same as with currencies. It takes years of daily use to get a feeling for the new currency...

[cmptrwlt]

Originally Posted by Neuling

In science Americans also use the metric system, it is natural as science is very international...

In everyday life, well, who cares. It can be difficult to switch to different units because after years or decades of life one has a feeling for dimensions. It is the same as with currencies. It takes years of daily use to get a feeling for the new currency...

That is true. I drove for two weeks in the U.S. in August. I used the metric system on my GPS (and a Norwegian voice).

[Neuling]

Originally Posted by cmptrwlt

That is true. I drove for two weeks in the U.S. in August. I used the metric system on my GPS (and a Norwegian voice).

And which unit on the speedmeter? But I suppose that would be more of a problem when driving an imported US car in Europe

[texdav]

What has the chnage done so far really accomplished. In the real world not much except to require more tools and up sales.The infrastructure of america is not built on the metric system and its flopped with the common man.As long as the basic person does not accept the metric system its a continued flop overall.

[Neuling]

Is the decision which system to use up to Washington or the individual states?

[KUchief25]

Originally Posted by EinsteinsGhost

There was a lot of push towards moving to the metric system in the 1970s, complete with a creation of a Metric Board for bringing metric system to fruition. Ronald Reagan administration, however, put the brakes on it in 1982. The history of a decimal based system in this country goes as far back as Thomas Jefferson who proposed the idea in 1790.

I remember back in grade school the push for it. It's so much easier to learn I never really understood why they don't/didn't switch. My kids now ask me why we don't use it because it makes more sense and I just shrug my shoulders.