I moved my soon-to-be wife from Ventura Publisher to Pagemaker and Windows 1.0 in her job at a University. Did my best to steer clear of page layout stuff (other than installing and making it work) till much later in life. Did have several rulers that had measurements in points for use with line flo and various daisy wheel printers. Still using the last of a box full of blank punched cards for shopping lists.
After reading several entries on here I must ask the next person who I know is a 'digital' person (30 years younger than me) how they cope with, or understand the significance, of socket sizes (1/4, 3/8, 1/2 ") in relation to metric sizes. Other things that annoy me is the use of HP and KW and 0-60mph v 0-100 kmh. You can always tell where the author lives and where his world viewpoint is.
StanMac wrote:
I think some ancient large format lenses produced in “olde England” or in the U.S. probably had focal lengths measured in inches, but that was it.
Stan
I wondered about that, but I couldn't find any reference to focal length in inches. I'll spend a few hours searching after another cup of coffee.
chrissybabe wrote:
Well I don't until I follow a US cooking recipe where I then have to convert from lbs to kg, 6ozs to grams etc
Right! I hate recipes that are in metric measurements. What the world needs is one measuring system, and it ain't inches. Money is the king, though, so we're stuck with using both systems. Ask the average American to show you how long 5/32" is. Then ask a foreigner how long 4mm is. That's why we should switch.
llamb wrote:
If I were to go into a hardware store in the USA and ask for set of metric sockets I would be asked, "quarter, three-eighths, or half inch drive?" What size ratchets are commonly used in New Zealand? I am not trying to be a wise-guy, I really want to know. Thanks.
~Lee
Yes! I've often thought that's a funny situation.
chrissybabe wrote:
So I don't have to watch youtube where the authors feel the need to quote one system but have to add in comments on the screen the US equivalent.
Yes, I hate when they do that.
alexol wrote:
The US, Liberia and Myanmar are the only remaining countries not using the SI system.
I think it's funny that we can't agree on a term to describe the system used in the USA - Imperial, SAE. Any other terms?
"?" APPLE what ? My Apple IPhone weather app shows all degrees as low as they get in fahrenheit. I have the app on my IMac, so I don't know about it.
Dan Copeland wrote:
Lets see the USA broke away from England in 1776 a... (
show quote)
It was and is an inertia thing. Do we suddenly tell everyone, "Hey, you gotta buy all new tools and re-learn what units of measure look and feel like?"
With billions and billions of English/SAE tools and products and signs in the wild, the likelihood that more than a relatively small portion of the market will change is small.
Then you have the old redneck fuddy duddy mentality (Mah daddy used pounds and miles and quarts, so why change now? It still works!). And there's the conservative business mentality (We will keep using what we've always used because it keeps making money for us. Switching would be an unnecessary expense!)
Can you imagine telling all builders, carpenters, plumbers, bakers, cooks, and others who grew up "metric-less" that we're going to switch to 100% metric measurement? There would be riots in the streets! There's not a politician in D.C. who has the spine to do it.
burkphoto wrote:
It was and is an inertia thing. Do we suddenly tell everyone, "Hey, you gotta buy all new tools and re-learn what units of measure look and feel like?"
With billions and billions of English/SAE tools and products and signs in the wild, the likelihood that more than a relatively small portion of the market will change is small.
Then you have the old redneck fuddy duddy mentality (Mah daddy used pounds and miles and quarts, so why change now? It still works!). And there's the conservative business mentality (We will keep using what we've always used because it keeps making money for us. Switching would be an unnecessary expense!)
Can you imagine telling all builders, carpenters, plumbers, bakers, cooks, and others who grew up "metric-less" that we're going to switch to 100% metric measurement? There would be riots in the streets! There's not a politician in D.C. who has the spine to do it.
It was and is an inertia thing. Do we suddenly tel... (
show quote)
Also, never forget we are also special, just not the way we think we are!!!!
I looked at this topic on YouTube, and US companies that spent the money to switch to metric wound up breaking even and then making a profit because of the switch. Switching to metric greatly reduced their overhead and increased their business.
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