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| why is the US not Metric |
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| KL27x:
What we should be doing is teaching simple math and how to do a basic conversion. When an American buys a product from EU or China that is expressed in metric, some of us have to do a conversion to make sense of it. But if we are shopping for the best price, we will do it. The dummies that can't, well that's their problem. --- Quote --- everywhere it makes sense to switch, USA has switched, or is in the process. --- End quote --- This. People in America use metric when is makes their life easier and/or reduces their costs. They don't pay extra in order to be "compliant" to one standard or another for no other reason other than to make someone on the internet happy. Americans are already fine with grams and liters and mL. But the cost to change over everything by government mandate would be stupidly expensive. And we already teach our kids both systems, not just imperial. We don't do physics in horsepowers and inches. Which, come to think of it, how does EU express a car's power? In kW? |
| bsfeechannel:
--- Quote from: KL27x on November 01, 2019, 10:01:49 pm ---This is like expecting US to change language to Spanish. --- End quote --- Well, the languages spoken where the US is now changed to English, didn't they? Anything can happen. --- Quote ---It costs money to change to metric. --- End quote --- What buggers people are statements like that. If less affluent countries could afford the change why can't the "largest economy" in the world? There's no logic in that. --- Quote ---All of the imperial standards are defined and derived from metric, and we have calculators, so there's almost no reason to do that or for anyone in or outside of the US to care. --- End quote --- That argument is even more logically troublesome. If in fact the system is already metric, why convert to imperial just to have to convert it back to metric? Just because people want to have fun with their calculators? To someone outside the US, and I guess, to many inside, this doesn't make sense at all. I guess people are not expecting or trying to convince the US to go metric. What questions like the one posted by the OP are trying to do is to solve those contradictions. And up to now they were not resolved. |
| Black Phoenix:
--- Quote from: KL27x on November 01, 2019, 11:48:14 pm ---Which, come to think of it, how does EU express a car's power? In kW? --- End quote --- Yup, at least in the Portuguese Vehicle Identification Document that as I know is a European Document Standard for that use, the power of the car is expressed in kW but in ads on even during normal conversation the power of a motor is expressed in CV. |
| vk6zgo:
--- Quote from: KL27x on November 01, 2019, 11:48:14 pm ---What we should be doing is teaching simple math and how to do a basic conversion. When an American buys a product from EU or China that is expressed in metric, some of us have to do a conversion to make sense of it. But if we are shopping for the best price, we will do it. The dummies that can't, well that's their problem. --- Quote --- everywhere it makes sense to switch, USA has switched, or is in the process. --- End quote --- This. People in America use metric when is makes their life easier and/or reduces their costs. They don't pay extra in order to be "compliant" to one standard or another for no other reason other than to make someone on the internet happy. Americans are already fine with grams and liters and mL. But the cost to change over everything by government mandate would be stupidly expensive. And we already teach our kids both systems, not just imperial. We don't do physics in horsepowers and inches. Which, come to think of it, how does EU express a car's power? In kW? --- End quote --- Yes so does every Metric country! Businesses in the USA already pay extra to be "compliant" with a lot of other standards, most of which are measured in Metric terms by their very nature, & indeed, some originated in that country. Apart from the "biggie", which is retooling, there is no "extra" payment. "Extra cost for compliance" implies an ongoing payment. Unless the component already has to comply to some standard, such as the necessity for "high tension" bolts, at its simplest, or for aviation components at its most rigid & hence, complex, it usually doesn't matter. An 8mm mild steel bolt is an 8mm mild steel bolt, not a whit different from its Imperial (or "customary") friend sitting on the next tray. And this does happen, India turns out Imperial standard nuts & bolts & the tools to assemble them, by the shipload, so the nuts n' bolts section of Bunnings in Australia typically has more "Whitworth" bolts than Metric. (this in a country that went Metric in the 1970s) And it desn't matter much in most cases---- If you need to bolt a coulple of pieces of wood together, who cares! |
| KL27x:
Never knew that. Per google "cheval vapeur" translates to "horsepower." But 1 cheval vapeur = 0.98592325737265 horsepower. Or 735.2028464127880626 watts. I wonder if this is derived in some way from metric. I suppose stating power in kW would make your car look 25% weaker compared to horsepower. But when you use CV? Instant 1.4% increase in number of units vs horsepower. In the 1800's the average person didn't know how to do math or use an abacus. And riding your horse to the nearest guy with a victorian mechanical calculator might take awhile. We don't need to worry about this, anymore. Anyone can buy scales and measuring equipment accurate to 0.1% for a pittance. And we have caluculators and the internet rather than having to look up conversions in a library. We don't have the trust and communication issues that different standards caused in the 1800's. |
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