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Subject: Why doesn't America use the metric system?
Schackleford    12/22/2005 11:06:47 AM
I know I must be sounding like some arrogant euro-trash for even bringing this up, but here it comes: Why doesn't America use SI-standard metric system? Maybe it's just me :I have never been able to learn/remember how far you have to walk to walk a "mile", I have no idea how deep you must dig to get six "feet" under... and what is an "inch" anyway? But using a common and logic-based system seems to be a better solution then what you have today.
 
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TXAggie93    RE:Why doesn't America use the metric system?   12/22/2005 1:59:34 PM
Car industry Unions did not want to learn the new system.
 
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YelliChink    RE:Why doesn't America use the metric system?   12/22/2005 2:20:20 PM
Because too many things had been in British system, and The US, as a major industrial power, have invested too many things, including tooling, meassure, standards, habits and laws with British system.
 
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Nanheyangrouchuan    RE:Why doesn't America use the metric system? Arty   12/22/2005 2:26:08 PM
"Not quite Nan, the US "Standard" system is very British, we call it "Imperial"" We don't use "stone" for weight though.
 
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PowerPointRanger    Think of it like this...   12/22/2005 5:24:33 PM
Let's suppose you're making a 1/4" bolt. We decide to convert to the metric system. Do you change to a 6.35mm bolt? Look at your socket wrench set. All the metics are even numbers 6mm, 7mm, etc...That's not going to fit. The cheapest thing to do is keep everything as it was and just change the number value. If that is case, why change the numbers at all? It all comes down to money and who will pay the price of conversion. Logically, Europe should be the one to convert to the Imperial system, since the US economy is larger and it will mean less of an expense to convert the smaller economy. Also, a base 10 (metric) system becomes less logical in a computer age, with binary numbers, which are more compatible with the Imperial system (1/2, 1/4, 1/8; instead of .25, .5, and .125). In the end, Americans seem content to let the market decide. If you want American products, accept the Imperial system. If you want European products, use the metric system.
 
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longrifle    RE:Ancient Mariners & Yankee Traders?   12/22/2005 5:25:17 PM
"Man you'd really be in the soup if you had to deal with leagues, fathoms, and nautical miles! Not to mention hands, stones, and imperial gallons!" I vote for cubits and spans.
 
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Zhang Fei    Because Americans don't do top-down solutions - our leaders don't tell us what to do   12/22/2005 5:41:54 PM
We elect them to do what we tell them to do. And when they deviate from that, we eject them. Everywhere the metric system has been implemented, it was imposed from the top down. In America, we decide what our weights and measures will be, and that's that. I understand the United Kingdom took to fining people who continued selling goods using the traditional Imperial measures. Here in America, that's a good way for government officials to get impeached and thrown out. It's not that complicated - American government officials are our hired hands, not our masters.
 
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Pseudonym    RE:Why doesn't America use the metric system?   12/22/2005 7:38:27 PM
While driving down the road looking at my speedometer with both metric and miles on it drinking my one liter soda to help ease the swallowing of a few milligrams of antibiotics, wait what was the question again?
 
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Herc the Merc    Because 1000miles is closer than 2240Kilometers- you reach faster   12/22/2005 7:40:42 PM
//
 
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ArtyEngineer    RE:Metric vs Imperial/Standard   12/22/2005 10:47:06 PM
As an engineer I would say that both systems have there merits. For physics related sstuff like structural calcs Metric is the ONLY way to go, however for detail design stuff dealing with tolerances etc I prefer Imperial/Standard, I find it easier to visualise thousandths of and inch (Thou's) and Ten thousandts of and Inch (Tenths) than 25.4 microns or 2.5 microns respectivley when it comes to determinings fits and postitional requirements etc.
 
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timon_phocas    RE:Why doesn't America use the metric system?   12/23/2005 12:00:34 AM
The imperial/standard measurement system has more factors to divide evenly. A system based on 12 has 4 factors (plus 1 & 12), a decimal system has 2 (plus 1 and 10). This yields a system which is based on doubling in size
 
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