So.. Why did the US never convert to the metric system?? It's 10 X easier..

Not a problem James I just thought you might like to remove your post. I have done the same thing in the past and removed my post.:TU:

Bob H.

 

I learn something new every day, Erik - thanks for the post. But in American Football, it still ain't a ball.

 

John we can go another route. An American football is shaped more like a foot than a soccer ball is.:grin:

Bob H.

 

(US)Hood = (UK)bonnet

(US) 'hood is something entirely different, however..

 

:laugh: :TU:

 

:Smarty:If you pull the handle that says 'hood.. you'll get a 9mm ... now that's metric!!

 

:blast:

 

O.K. I didnt read all the posts so not sure if this was covered but how about music. How is the time measured? There are 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, notes and so on. So is that metric? How would music be in base 10?

 

Music doesn't fall under either.
Three beat or four beat. It is what it is. They don't accumulate, thy are simply counted. When you get to four ( or three ), you start at one again.
The beat isn't at a specific pace either. The pace of the beat is determined by the writer and the person performing.
1/2, 1/4 and 1/8th notes are a percentage of the beat.

Art doesn't conform to the same rules.

Now, computers.... 8 based?

 

Wonder why we have a 25 cent coin, but not a 25 dollar bill?


I don't think we even teach the metric system in school anymore?? We are hoping the rest of the world we see just how inadequate a system based on multiples of 10 is.

 

Electricity is metric in the US!

 

Back in the '70s when I smoked weed I learned that there are 28 grams in an ounce and that a kilo is 2.2 pounds so there ARE some benefits to smoking pot.... :TU:

 

"Here"

 

I took a some physics and several years of chemistry in high school and a bit more in college before settling on computers so I'm conversant in metric. All my daily drivers are Japanese and fully metric. I also use the metric for rounded SAE nuts and bolts. Computers count in a variety of unique ways from binary (1,10,11,100 etc) to octal (base 8 ie 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,10 etc) to hexadecimal (base 16 ie 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E,F,10 etc) so I've dealt with odd scales and measurements all my life. Every single thing I buy with a weight or a measurement has the US and metric values printed on it. Oil bottles and gatorade all have both so there's no problem getting the proper fluids in the proper quantities.

Distance and speed will probably get me in trouble some day simple because there are legal repercussions to not adhering to the speed limit where as drinking a pint vs a 500ml of anything probably won't make the difference between sober and drunk.

I work for a company that sells its product in dozens and it is because that is the way it is done. A dozen stacks neatly and cleanly in a box and a dozen boxes stack neatly on a pallet. 10 does not go on a pallet easily unless you make a really skinny rectangular box so you have 2 rows of 5 or 5 rows of 2.

Frankly, I could care less what unit of measure we use or the rest of the world uses as long as what I'm driving uses the same scale as the road signs. We don't all use the same currency and we don't all speak the same language. We don't all worship the same deity (if any at all) or have the same political system. To harp on the metric system is like complaining that the French don't speak English in Paris.

 

There are 28.3495 grams in an ounce. I know what you did with the remainder of my lid. :rant:

 

I really don't understand why you guys let this bother you still, or why you felt the need to resurrect this after 3 years. But just for the record, my 10 yr old is being taught the metric system in school, started in 2nd or 3rd grade.

A big :TU: to this last comment.

 

I'm surprised we don't have a 7/16 of a dollar coin :idea2:

 

I graduated from HS in 1970. I was taught the metric system in grade school in the early '60s. It is in the curriculum, so people ought to be learning it, still. I would have to say, though, that changing all that tooling is going to be prohibitively expensive. That may be a contributor to the inertia behind the change. As one of my tasks where I used to work, I spin balanced space satellites. Having been trained in physics, I used the metric system. It was a bit of "culture shock" that the English Engineering Units of "Slug-Feet[SUP]2[/SUP]" were still in use when I went to support that program. I can handle any measurement system, and actually can work in coordinate systems other than the usual x,y,z rectangular (Cartesian) coordinates.

 

Medicine and scientific industries are metric.

 

The main reason is because the NFL still believes we are the best country with the best engineering. We have been basing every measurement of man and intelligence by how far they can punt,pass,or kick. This has always been done in total yards instead of meters.