Do Americans find metric too difficult?

[westwall]

UK roads are miles and yards. Speedometer in MPH and fuel consumption in MPG. The dial on the car also as Kilometres and car manuals state kilometres per litre for fuel consumption which is totally alien, so I have to convert to MPG.

Due to the push to metric, I've memorised various conversion figures, such as 25.4mm to the inch, a pint is 568ml. Beer in pubs is in pints.

If you work on the rail, tracks are in miles, chains, furlongs and yards. Horse racing is in miles and furlongs.

As a pilot I also get to use "Knots", so we are all screwed up!

 

[Flash]

What pisses me off are American Scientists that think they are big shits using metric measurements.

Just shows you how weak minded they are. If they use metric they should be required to denounce their American citizenship and turn in their passport.

 

[westwall]

What pisses me off are American Scientists that think they are big shits using metric measurements.

Just shows you how weak minded they are. If they use metric they should be required to denounce their American citizenship and turn in their passport.

Like I said, it depends on what you are doing. Temperature I use Fahrenheit because it is far more precise than Celsius, but for distance I use meters, once again, due to precision.

For driving though, I use good old mph!

 

[hadit]

I wish we had switched back in the 70's. Our kids and now grandkids wouldn't be having any issues at all and we wouldn't have lost that Mars lander.

 

[Flash]

They're in miles. Plus, roadwork signs by law have to be in yards, so for example, "800 yards to Roadworks".

So the UK is not really metric?

They will measure the distance from London to Liverpool in miles but when they tell you how far it is to the Moon they will use KMs?

Sounds like those boys are a little confused.

 

[luiza]

Illogical, and pretentious, conclusion.

Facts are not pretentious or illogical .
They simply are . Or are not .

Even an updated position underlines my point

According to Census and State Department data, 21.4 million passports were issued in 2016, which is the most ever. That means 42 percent of Americans hold a passport, a growth of 15 percent since 2007.
That is , the previous figure which I used from memory was right at 75%

 

[Unkotare]

Facts are not pretentious or illogical .
They simply are . Or are not .

Even an updated position underlines my point

According to Census and State Department data, 21.4 million passports were issued in 2016, which is the most ever. That means 42 percent of Americans hold a passport, a growth of 15 percent since 2007.
That is , the previous figure which I used from memory was right at 75%

As expected, you’re still not getting it.

 

[JohnDB]

As a retired machinist I totally agree.
When the economy went to shit in the 80's and the oil industry took a major hit I took a job at a hydraulic shop out of desperation.
It was opened by a german dude who thought the metric system was the way to go. He bought a lathe that was set up for metric use.
I told the guy I dont have metric tools and if he wanted to use metric you need to convert the prints to SAE standard.
He then told me I need to buy new measuring tools. I laughed in his face and told him I have thousands of dollars in inspection equipment and I sure as hell wont be buying metric mics and metric calipers since they would be useless in any shop in Texas or for that matter anywhere in America.
He fired me and I laughed as I walked out the door......it wasnt a month later that the place closed the doors.

Here in the US SAE is the standard...the mills and lathes are set up for SAE and not metric. Even the DRO is SAE. He was looking at hundreds of thousands to do the conversion in his shop. He absolutely was an idiot. Especially if he wanted to bid work in a timely manner.
Translating metric prints is the engineer's job...and of course he probably didn't want to pay one.
Most machine shops have closed up as our economy has shifted from manufacturing to more of a service and technology economy.

However,
Because of the severe supply chain issues and labor issues...some of this needs to change.
MPO is that robotics is going to see a rise. Meaning that small runs of highly specialized parts are going to be needed. That's where the money is going to be.

Where runs of 2k is a small order now we are going to see runs of 100-200 being a standard. And if it's aluminum or something else that doesn't need the HP to run its just fine....but if it's steel that needs tempering...those CNC machines are not going to work out so well. And they are not necessarily set up for metric either....some are and some are not.

And bidding parts out to India or Mexico to be machined? Good luck on those tolerances!

So...maybe you should get an apprentice and pass off some of those skills...they likely are going to be needed once again.

 

[Likkmee]

So the UK is not really metric?

They will measure the distance from London to Liverpool in miles but when they tell you how far it is to the Moon they will use KMs?

Sounds like those boys are a little confused.

 

[westwall]

As expected, you’re still not getting it.

Neither are you, clearly.

 

[Canon Shooter]

We're one of only three countries using the imperial system, Liberia and Myanmar being the other two, and they're slowly transition to metric.

We may eventually go that way, too. After all, you can already buy a two liter bottle of Coke at the grocery store after you run that Christmas 5K in the morning...

I like fives and twenties. I hate twos and fifties. Tens are OK, but pennies are worthless.

Au contraire.

One of my favorite souvenirs to get when I travel, and easily the least expensive, is one of those pressed-penny things. I've got 46 of them at the moment...

 

[Unkotare]

Neither are you, clearly.

Not sure why you are taking up luiza's cause, but not holding a passport does NOT necessarily equate to "stuck in their seasoned ways of thinking." That is both the failure of logic AND the pretentious BS of the statement to which I was originally responding.

 

[whitehall]

Actually the opposite seems to be true. The rest of the world finds American measurement too difficult. The Peanut Man tried to convert the U.S. to metric but people resisted and the old signs that said Km instead of MPH have disappeared. We are stuck with metric because the products we have in the U.S. are made in countries that use the metric system. Our Military uses the metric system because NATO countries are too dumb to conform to American measurements.

 

[Zincwarrior]

I use English for cooking, and weight, and for feet under ten feet. Over that I can use yards or meters. Driving is mph.

Frankly I could fully convert to metric if everything went that way pretty easily. My only issue would probably be cooking, but I could adapt.

 

[jwoodie]

Metric is a far superior system.

How far? Metric/decimal is better for very large or very small numbers, but not for everyday approximation.

 

[Winco]

How far? Metric/decimal is better for very large or very small numbers, but not for everyday approximation.

My point is……..

If a new society was formed and they were not using either or any other

Then, IMO, the metric system would be easier to learn and use.

 

[cnm]

For people who could never master fractions.

For those who realise anything not a whole number is a fraction of 10 or 100 or 1000, etc,. etc..

I understand that's a difficult concept for the free and the brave.

 

[cnm]

Temperature I use Fahrenheit because it is far more precise than Celsius

JFC. That must be why the entire scientific community uses Celsius, because it's less precise.
Ffs.

 

[JohnDB]

We may eventually go that way, too. After all, you can already buy a two liter bottle of Coke at the grocery store after you run that Christmas 5K in the morning

We aren't...
Too much money tied up into SAE.
Too many gears and machines manufactured using SAE formulas...especially expensive ones made for precision.

And just in case you misunderstood the conversations I have been having...everything that is manufactured is done by tool and die machinists.
That includes your soda bottles.

It's easier to convert from metric into SAE than the other way around. And that's because of the tool and die makers. Your liter Pepsi bottle was made in a die that was made by English measurements and made in a machine made with involute gears configured by SAE formulas. There are metric equivalents to be had...but a 76mm conduit is really just a ¾" conduit. And common as dirt.

 

[Canon Shooter]

We aren't...
Too much money tied up into SAE.
Too many gears and machines manufactured using SAE formulas...especially expensive ones made for precision.

And just in case you misunderstood the conversations I have been having...everything that is manufactured is done by tool and die machinists.
That includes your soda bottles.

It's easier to convert from metric into SAE than the other way around. And that's because of the tool and die makers. Your liter Pepsi bottle was made in a die that was made by English measurements and made in a machine made with involute gears configured by SAE formulas. There are metric equivalents to be had...but a 76mm conduit is really just a ¾" conduit. And common as dirt.

Honestly I don't rally care about it that much...

They're in miles. Plus, roadwork signs by law have to be in yards, so for example, "800 yards to Roadworks".

Pretty sure the UK is the only country in Europe, though, which doesn't have their speed limit signs expressed in kilometers per hour...