Metrics
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The metric system is obviously better for arithmetic, as we work in base 10 and thus performing calculations in metric is trivial. However, this is irrelevant if i'm "eyeing up" a measurement of some kind; in this situation, i'm making mental (or even physical) comparisons to other objects of known size, such as my fingers, hands, arms, pace, etc. This isn't to say i couldn't learn how many meters a pace is, or how many centemeters thick my finger is; but doing so would be no easier than learning any other arbitrary measurment system. Which is to say, it would be a very long, expensive, error-prone process. Now, this doesn't mean that it won't happen, but it is doubtful any nation-wide movement to implement such a system will ever take off; rather, it is most likely that such a transition, if it does occur, will occur slowly over time, as one system after another gradually converts. Remember, the metric system is nothing new; if it is to be adopted in a given situation, it will be because there is a pressing reason why it should be; obviously, that has not happened in many places yet. ...just my... (ok, what's $0.02 in metric...) ;) --------_**
And we die young. Faster we run.
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Alice in Chains, We Die Young
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In college, we used nothing else but the SI (metric) system, except for the Mechanical Engineers. They still want to play with lb-force, slugs, btus and the like.
Before switching to computer sciences, I learned Mechanical one. We used of course metric system, 'cause as french we didn't see the interest of imperial one. For US engineers, it's quiet different: all the mechanical data are based on these funny units, and standard elements, (like screws for example) are based also on it (for pitch or diameter). Because these dimensions are related to stress and strain, it seems easier to make calculation with imperial system to dimension a mechanical device which should use the US normalized parts. We're talking shit, 'cause life is a 'biz You know it is Everybody tryin' to get rich God damn! All I wanna do is live ! KoRn, Children of the Korn
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Because Americans (for example) are to stubborn to switch to the easier to use systems. Note: I am an American. -:suss:Matt Newman / Windows XP Activist:suss: -Sonork ID: 100.11179:BestSnowman
†****Matt Newman wrote: Americans (for example) are to stubborn Too stubborn and there is an awful lot of money that would have to be spent to upgrade everything to metric. All the road signs would need to switch (speed limit, distance to town/gas/rest area). Even the text on tires would have to change (instead of 35 psi it would be N/m2) all these changes cost money. Personally the only metric measurement I don't like is the kilometer, its just too short for me to visualize. It is about 0.1 mile for me to ride my bike to the corner and back; now if my calculations are correct it is about 0.161 km to the corner and back. It also makes estimating driving times difficult. Normal highway driving is 60 miles/hour = 1 mile/minute EASY to calculate, switch that to km and its about 96.7 km/hour rounded down because the state is always taking the safer figure and you get 95 km/hour = 1.58 km/minute a bit more difficult to calculate. Then you also have to change things you would never think of... Like recipies, milk containers, postal equations, programs which use feet/inches and pounds. The amount of stuff that needs to switch over is enormous and doing so is going to cost a lot of money. Money the government doesn't have and money which the government is going to have a hard time of getting (rightfully so). On top of that you need to get lawmakers with the balls to suggest doing it. I think it is safe to say the US will switch over to metric, but it is going to be at a very slow pace when the government can afford it. Frankly I don't know how the road system is going to get upgraded, there are so many projects in michigan alone that need to be completed before the taxpayers will even think about electing someone who is going to go for switching the signs. My $0.02 anyway, James Simplicity Rules!
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I'd say for the USA it would need to be a 20 yr process, so it would need to pass through various different governments and administrations etc. I hope they are teaching metrics to kids in schools, so at least they have some understanding, and making a change will be easier. Learning the metric system takes a minor fraction of the time of using the imperial system. And the pay off for changing to metrics would be slow in coming. Regardz Colin J Davies
Sonork ID 100.9197:Colin
"real Americans don't criticize their leaders - because they don't want the terrorists to win." -- Quote from Chris Losinger a real American"
****Colin Davies wrote: I'd say for the USA it would need to be a 20 yr process, so it would need to pass through various different governments and administrations etc. I hope they are teaching metrics to kids in schools, so at least they have some understanding, and making a change will be easier. Learning the metric system takes a minor fraction of the time of using the imperial system. And the pay off for changing to metrics would be slow in coming. It certainly does take time - the UK nominally went metric in the 1970s, and only now are imperial units finally starting to disappear here - with a few notable exceptions: a pint of beer will probably be around for a long time. :D What is daft though is when traders are prosecuted for selling produce in imperial units at customer request. :mad: Andy Metcalfe - Sonardyne International Ltd
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Shog9 wrote: what's $0.02 in metric Approximatively 0,0227 € :-D We're talking shit, 'cause life is a 'biz You know it is Everybody tryin' to get rich God damn! All I wanna do is live ! KoRn, Children of the Korn
LOL Regards Thomas Finally with Sonork id: 100.10453 Thömmi
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The metric system is obviously better for arithmetic, as we work in base 10 and thus performing calculations in metric is trivial. However, this is irrelevant if i'm "eyeing up" a measurement of some kind; in this situation, i'm making mental (or even physical) comparisons to other objects of known size, such as my fingers, hands, arms, pace, etc. This isn't to say i couldn't learn how many meters a pace is, or how many centemeters thick my finger is; but doing so would be no easier than learning any other arbitrary measurment system. Which is to say, it would be a very long, expensive, error-prone process. Now, this doesn't mean that it won't happen, but it is doubtful any nation-wide movement to implement such a system will ever take off; rather, it is most likely that such a transition, if it does occur, will occur slowly over time, as one system after another gradually converts. Remember, the metric system is nothing new; if it is to be adopted in a given situation, it will be because there is a pressing reason why it should be; obviously, that has not happened in many places yet. ...just my... (ok, what's $0.02 in metric...) ;) --------_**
And we die young. Faster we run.
**_
Alice in Chains, We Die Young
Shog9 wrote: Now, this doesn't mean that it won't happen, but it is doubtful any nation-wide movement to implement such a system will ever take off; rather, it is most likely that such a transition, if it does occur, will occur slowly over time, as one system after another gradually converts. I have grown up with the metric system, therefore I have no problem with it. But if all my environment, such as my parents, friends, TV, etc, would have used the empirial system, I would either. Regards Thomas Finally with Sonork id: 100.10453 Thömmi
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One of the reasons women are confused about conversions like this is because for generations we've been saying "inches" when we should have said "centimeters."
Good point ;-) But do not tell the women :~ Regards Thomas Finally with Sonork id: 100.10453 Thömmi
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****Colin Davies wrote: I'd say for the USA it would need to be a 20 yr process, so it would need to pass through various different governments and administrations etc. I hope they are teaching metrics to kids in schools, so at least they have some understanding, and making a change will be easier. Learning the metric system takes a minor fraction of the time of using the imperial system. And the pay off for changing to metrics would be slow in coming. It certainly does take time - the UK nominally went metric in the 1970s, and only now are imperial units finally starting to disappear here - with a few notable exceptions: a pint of beer will probably be around for a long time. :D What is daft though is when traders are prosecuted for selling produce in imperial units at customer request. :mad: Andy Metcalfe - Sonardyne International Ltd
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"I would be careful in separating your wierdness, a good quirky weirdness, from the disturbed wierdness of people who take pleasure from PVC sheep with fruit repositories." - Paul WatsonAndy Metcalfe wrote: traders are prosecuted for selling produce in imperial units If traders and consumers are not legally obliged to use metric units, they will not. We are lazy to change our habits We have a good sample here with the currency change to Euro. As long as prices are double-currency indicated, majority of people continue to "use" French Franc, even if it has no more legal values since February, and no more notes and coins. The difficulty is in human mind, not in the material world. We're talking shit, 'cause life is a 'biz You know it is Everybody tryin' to get rich God damn! All I wanna do is live ! KoRn, Children of the Korn
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I gotta agree with your post. NZ changed to metrics in 365 days, successfully. There have been a couple of surveys done of how countries changed and NZ ranked at the top. Part of the reason for this is NZ's relatively small size. The Carter Admin spent a lot of money recording how NZ had changed, wanting to implement similar methods for the USA. My 2 cents are that its going to take a lot longer for the USA to change, and the first changes should be teaching the basics of metrics in schools syllabii. I use both systems without any real problems, but doing physics and chem is so much easier in Metrics. Regardz Colin J Davies
Sonork ID 100.9197:Colin
"real Americans don't criticize their leaders - because they don't want the terrorists to win." -- Quote from Chris Losinger a real American"
****Colin Davies wrote: NZ changed to metrics in 365 days, successfully. All four of you? I knwo it doesn't really work seeing as you go on to talk about the smaller propulation, but take it like a man an move on. ____________________ David Wulff There was a young man called Dave, Who dug up a prositutes grave, She was mouldy as shìt, And missing a tit, But look at the money he saved. Dave's Code Project Screensaver and Wallpaper page.
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Domenic [CPUA 0x1337] wrote: Metric Time lives! Interesting project. :-) Regardz Colin J Davies
Sonork ID 100.9197:Colin
"real Americans don't criticize their leaders - because they don't want the terrorists to win." -- Quote from Chris Losinger a real American"
Thank you!
-Domenic Denicola- [CPUA 0x1337] MadHamster Creations "I was born human. But this was an accident of fate - a condition merely of time and place. I believe it's something we have the power to change..."
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Shog9 wrote: what's $0.02 in metric Approximatively 0,0227 € :-D We're talking shit, 'cause life is a 'biz You know it is Everybody tryin' to get rich God damn! All I wanna do is live ! KoRn, Children of the Korn
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Karl wrote: Approximatively 0,0227 € And is the comma a decimal separator or a thousands separator? :-D --------_**
And we die young. Faster we run.
**_
Alice in Chains, We Die Young
According to SI unit rule #16 , Commas should not be used to separate digits into groups of three ! ;P (there's no rule on the decimal separator) We're talking shit, 'cause life is a 'biz You know it is Everybody tryin' to get rich God damn! All I wanna do is live ! KoRn, Children of the Korn
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****Matt Newman wrote: Americans (for example) are to stubborn Too stubborn and there is an awful lot of money that would have to be spent to upgrade everything to metric. All the road signs would need to switch (speed limit, distance to town/gas/rest area). Even the text on tires would have to change (instead of 35 psi it would be N/m2) all these changes cost money. Personally the only metric measurement I don't like is the kilometer, its just too short for me to visualize. It is about 0.1 mile for me to ride my bike to the corner and back; now if my calculations are correct it is about 0.161 km to the corner and back. It also makes estimating driving times difficult. Normal highway driving is 60 miles/hour = 1 mile/minute EASY to calculate, switch that to km and its about 96.7 km/hour rounded down because the state is always taking the safer figure and you get 95 km/hour = 1.58 km/minute a bit more difficult to calculate. Then you also have to change things you would never think of... Like recipies, milk containers, postal equations, programs which use feet/inches and pounds. The amount of stuff that needs to switch over is enormous and doing so is going to cost a lot of money. Money the government doesn't have and money which the government is going to have a hard time of getting (rightfully so). On top of that you need to get lawmakers with the balls to suggest doing it. I think it is safe to say the US will switch over to metric, but it is going to be at a very slow pace when the government can afford it. Frankly I don't know how the road system is going to get upgraded, there are so many projects in michigan alone that need to be completed before the taxpayers will even think about electing someone who is going to go for switching the signs. My $0.02 anyway, James Simplicity Rules!
It's astonishing other countries didn't crumble to dust when they introduced the metric system...
the programmers just set it so that when in doubt, the women still think they're involved with you. It's much less frustrating that way - BGII Quest Directory
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It's astonishing other countries didn't crumble to dust when they introduced the metric system...
the programmers just set it so that when in doubt, the women still think they're involved with you. It's much less frustrating that way - BGII Quest Directory
peterchen wrote: It's astonishing other countries didn't crumble to dust when they introduced the metric system... Good point. Regardz Colin J Davies
Sonork ID 100.9197:Colin
"real Americans don't criticize their leaders - because they don't want the terrorists to win." -- Quote from Chris Losinger a real American"
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I do not talk about switching from the empirial system to metrics from one day to another. But couldn't went the government or the legislative to the metrics system step by step? Regards Thomas Finally with Sonork id: 100.10453 Thömmi
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If I had to guess, I would say the cost would be ENORMOUS to replace all signs, measuring cups, tire sizes, etc. (Not to mention the fact that we would be admitting that we're wrong about something). ;P I vote pro metric! Jon Sagara "... where the beer flows like wine, and the women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano ..."
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Just inspired by a current thread in the lounge: Why do some countries still use their feet to measure distances, even if the metric system has been introduced there for ages? Regards Thomas Finally with Sonork id: 100.10453 Thömmi
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Because of heavy processing requirements, we are currently using some of your unused brain capacity for backup processing. Please ignore any hallucinations, voices or unusual dreams you may experience. Please avoid concentration-intensive tasks until further notice. Thank you.The bottom line is cost to convert not signs and such but the manufacturing equipement. The gearing is not the same. You just can not take a lath with gears for one system and switch to the other. As far as other countries not collapsing from the switch you are wrong. US aid following both world wars was used to keep many countries from going under and in the process those coutries modernized when the US did not. The US factories were not destroyed. However I would not consider this worth the suffering created by being destroyed (or very much hurt) through a couple world wars. The US is changing but very slowly. As more buisiness and manufacturing is going to global markets it is finally worth it to switch as product lines change. It will not be final in my lifetime though. To be conscious that you are ignorant of the facts is a great step towards Knowledge. Benjamin Disraeli
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Thomas Freudenberg wrote: But couldn't went the government or the legislative to the metrics system step by step? Or inch by inch? /moliate
moliate wrote: Or inch by inch? LOL Regards Thomas Finally with Sonork id: 100.10453 Thömmi
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Just inspired by a current thread in the lounge: Why do some countries still use their feet to measure distances, even if the metric system has been introduced there for ages? Regards Thomas Finally with Sonork id: 100.10453 Thömmi
Disclaimer:
Because of heavy processing requirements, we are currently using some of your unused brain capacity for backup processing. Please ignore any hallucinations, voices or unusual dreams you may experience. Please avoid concentration-intensive tasks until further notice. Thank you.Since everything's bigger in America, the 'foot' measurement isn't necessarily based on our feet. ;P Josh Knox that-guy.net
"UNIX is basically a simple operating system, but you have to be a genius to understand the simplicity." Dennis Ritchie.