jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

It's a shame that the USA has never switched to the metric system. Not only is it a good system, but it would put us in line with the rest of humanity. Aside from the crash on Mars, planes have also crashed because of metric/imperial measurement errors. The only reason I can see for sticking with our system is money. It would cost businesses money, and politicians don't want anything that will cost businesses money.

http://sploid.gizmodo.com/why-the-metric-system-is-so-important-1784052092

makurow

You can bame Ronald Reagan.

MiroFoto

You are right on money - but the changes made in Sweden and Canada were costly and ...for the next generation. You would not imagine how it was in Canada when we mixed these two systems ... try to calculate dimensions of steel structures => manufactured in imperial and designed in metric ..with a precision of 1/16 inch. I am from Europe and worked as a civil engineering there, then here. Today I have to use both systems to get a feel for the dimensions. For example : I know the roadway is 12ft wide per lane , But gas consumption is 8L/100 km. (+there are people whi still drive on the wrong side) However, there are other systems too...like gage for the rifle barrel and ...a length of your vacation on a Cruise is measured in Lb s (of the weight you have gained), right?.

Miro

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Yes, conversion would be tough, but the rest of the world has done it. Within one generation, we would be on track.

Keldon Loc: Yukon, B.C.

I use metric when travelling because it is so incredibly easy to figure time/distance in my head . I also think metric for temperature because it is so logical and makes the most sense. But when I build an addition or make new furniture I use imperial measures since the building materials are made that way.

I'm just glad that at least our money is completely metric.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I know what you mean. I have some tape measures that are both imperial and metric. Metric can make it easier to measure, rather than going for 32nds or 64ths. If something I'm making out of wood is accurate to one mm, that's fine.

I was in England in 1974, shortly after they switched to decimal, and many older people had difficulty with the new system. One thing I'll never understand is why they abandoned the term "shilling." They kept a coin of the same size and value, so why not keep the traditional name, as they did with the pound note? On future trips to England, I brought home shillings that I received in change, knowing they would become increasingly scarce.

n3eg Loc: West coast USA

Fellow Americans: Does 30 degrees make you feel hot? If not, Celsius is not for you.

Texcaster Loc: Queensland

The last few days have been 27C, 28C, and today 29C. This warm spell is expected to last until Tuesday. Did I mention it's the middle of winter here?

I thought I was finished with imperial until I started luthiery. The violin family and classical guitars are metric. The instruments I build, steel string flat top guitars, archtop guitars and archtop mandolins are American and imperial. Once the molds and patterns are made I don't much need of any rule.

Tom G Loc: Atlanta, GA

The Metric System is simple, accurate, consistent, easily expanded or contracted, comprehensible, logical, sensible, and really easy.

The only way to change is "Cold Turkey".

When in the U.S.? Probably never? What a shame... .

John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

The shilling became the 5p piece. Unlike yourselves we didn't keep names for amounts of minor denominations like dimes (that would have been a florin - 10p - already a dying term) as it was thought it would add to confusion during changeover. And we didn't keep the pound note - it became the pound coin - but was still in circulation up to 1988. Our 10/- note (approx. $1) went out a long time before (1970) to be replaced by the 7 sided 50p piece.

As for temperature I always used centigrade as it was called then. Never understood the point of starting at 32°f for freezing when I was at school. I'm pretty sure they don't even teach Fahrenheit here anymore.

I was an engineering apprentice at the time of the changeover so a lot of our early work was just a direct equivalent. For example, 3 & 13/64" became 81.3595mm, not until complete new model lines were introduced did the company go fully metric. Later, when I moved into telecommunications, cross sectional areas rather than lb's per mile was a boon for working out transmission losses.

But imperial had it's good points. My mum (her words, I'm useless at sums) could work out the price of 2lb 3oz. of potatoes to a farthing quicker than a kid of today could punch the figures into a calculator as could most of the housewives of the time. It certainly kept the brain sharp.

And "pand and a bit of coxes allright luv" sounds a lot better than "half a kilogram of Golden delicious o.k. for you Ms." from the market greengrocers.

I like the metric system - but I miss the imperial system.

Ruedrich Loc: Hampshire, UK

having lived through the changeover, we still are not totally compatible. Yes we do litres and our currency has gone decimal but some of the old imperial measurements in hardware are still extant and we still talk of miles and although we buy our fuel in litres, we still talk of miles per gallon. - by the way - does anybody know why the "Europeans" still talk of "Litres per 100 km" rather than km per litre? - Both are understandable but in this age of conformity and compatibility - could it be that both we (the English) and You (the Americans) still have the urge to remain slightly independent of conformity and retain our original way of life or is it just down to fear of spending money.

repleo Loc: Boston

My father was a farmer in Ireland back in the ‘60s. He only had a 5th grade education. At that time the units of weight were 14lbs to a Stone; 2 Stone to a Quarter, 4 Quarters to a Hundredweight (112 lbs). The units of currency were 12 pence to a shilling; 20 shillings to a Pound.
When he went to the cattle auctions, the cattle came into the ring in various sized lots of up to 13 at a time. The total weight for the lot was shown on the scales. Bidding was per animal. In order to know what to bid, he would have to calculate the average weight per animal, convert it to pounds (weight), apply the known price (pence per pound deadweight) the abattoir was paying that day, factor in the difference between liveweight and deadweight, add the cost of transportation, deduct for weight loss getting there and add for profit. Then convert all of that back to a price (in Pounds currency) per animal to make his bid – all within 60 - 90 seconds.
When hand held calculators first came out, I gave him one for Christmas. He played around with it for awhile and then asked how could he calculate what to pay for the cattle. I couldn’t show him how. Fifty years and a college degree later, I still can’t do it, but it would be a breeze now that everything there – including money – is metric.

Mary Kate Loc: NYC

Funny thing about the rant about money being so bad the evil of it all. When you put your hand in your pocket you always know that you have money in your possession. How much of the evil dollar have you spent on your camera and related paraphernalia??? Money spent on trips to take pictures. Also, the obligatory post processing programs.

MontanaTrace

Shouldn't we then have only one language? Esperanto?

Mary Kate Loc: NYC

Last year there was an article in The Wall Street Journal. The writer indicated that in 5 years; Spanish will be the dominant language spoken in America.