The road sign industry would have a field day.
Imagine replacing every mile marker, every distance sign, everything.
Billions of dollars.
The road sign industry would have a field day.
Imagine replacing every mile marker, every distance sign, everything.
Billions of dollars.
markarian wrote:
metric system is poopy. If i want to know how tall someone is, i want my measurements to be in "human measurements," or the approximate size of 1 human foot. Not some communists arbitrary crab like meters.
Firstly, the metric system was not communist as it was developed several generations prior to Marx. The founding fathers used the metric system for the Dollar.
I've long wondered if it was this that hurt the American and British auto industries.
i sell signs wrote:
The road sign industry would have a field day.
Imagine replacing every mile marker, every distance sign, everything.
Billions of dollars.
No, they would just put stickers over the numbers/MPH.
i sell signs wrote:
The road sign industry would have a field day.
Imagine replacing every mile marker, every distance sign, everything.
Billions of dollars.
We piss billions away giving it to a single random foreign country that hates us every month.
I’m fine reallocating that expense.
Metric man wrote:
The imperial system is not stupid or completely random. Most of the origins are completely logical and were born out of very practical applications.
For example, a mile, created in Roman Times, was originally created as the measure of 1000 paces. A pace being measured by alternating foot strikes (just your left or right leg). The original metric system.
That said, metric is better. Let’s move on.
It is 'random' now though...most people I know have a 1,000 paces for a kilometre.
Also, all the metric measurements are inter-related, from length to volume, energy , power etc
Metric man wrote:
Jimmy Carter wrote:
They tried this in the 70s
. I know. It failed. Try again. Get it done.
Give people a compelling reason to switch from a system they basically understand to one they don't and maybe you're in business. I remember when this was supposed to happen in the '70s we were told how good a switch would be and how there would be benefits for the average American. But I cannot recall being told what those benefits would be. Yes, there are particular groups for whom there would be a benefit but for most of us it would just be a pain in the sitting area. The standard argument, that the rest of the world uses the metric system is never going to fly here. The rest of the post industrial world has gun control, five weeks of paid vacation, single payer health care too. That hasn't gotten any of those things to happen here either. Seriously, what's in it for me?
MakesSense wrote:
Alabama BSS wrote:
......... I’m perfectly happy with feet and inches, especially when measuring distances in track and field. I would assume that anyone in a business where measurements have to be one way or another get along just fine.
Well, considering a track is usually measured using the metric system (1 lap =400m) , using feet and inches makes perfect sense.
Assumptions can be costly:
"Designed to orbit Mars as the first interplanetary weather satellite, the Mars Orbiter was lost in 1999 because the Nasa team used metric units while a contractor used imperial. The $125m probe came too close to Mars as it tried to manoeuvre into orbit, and is thought to have been destroyed by the planet's atmosphere. An investigation said the "root cause" of the loss was the "failed translation of English units into metric units" in a piece of ground software.
You can find some older tracks that are 440 yards.
You will never get NFL to convert to a 9 meter 1st down and a 91 meter field.
Metric man wrote:how can we realistically convert fully to the metric system in the USA?
The high schools already have and have been doing it for over 35+ years. They run the 1600m and 3200m events! Seriously though, The metric system is so easy to use and would also put the USA in sync with the rest of the world. When I first moved here I was a bit confused by all of the Imperial measurements. I learned it but still have trouble with a few things. The metric system really is quite easy once you learn it.
The problem is that everyone know is illogical and a dumb system (literally no one can convert from one unit to the other). Yet america will never change. Its the MURICA pride of feeling special and above anyone else, even when in fact its actually really dumb. As a foreigner who has lived in the US this is the spirit of how Americans feel about their country. Everything is already the greatest nothing needs to change.
Will be a rude rude awakening when the world has moved on and improved yet the USA thinks they are still one of the greatest countries on earth but they stopped improving years ago and now just holds that last little straw of their greatness. So sad. Interestingly the whole Trump BS just fuels into exactly that. But it just accelerated the decline really. Its almost tragic to see.
Metric man wrote:
The imperial system is not stupid or completely random. Most of the origins are completely logical and were born out of very practical applications.
For example, a mile, created in Roman Times, was originally created as the measure of 1000 paces. A pace being measured by alternating foot strikes (just your left or right leg). The original metric system.
That said, metric is better. Let’s move on.
The Roman mile must have been paced out by someone 10 feet tall, or should I say 3 meters.
The 1500m rocks! The mile doesn't wrote:
Metric man wrote:how can we realistically convert fully to the metric system in the USA?
The high schools already have and have been doing it for over 35+ years. They run the 1600m and 3200m events! Seriously though, The metric system is so easy to use and would also put the USA in sync with the rest of the world. When I first moved here I was a bit confused by all of the Imperial measurements. I learned it but still have trouble with a few things. The metric system really is quite easy once you learn it.
Why is a track 400m? Should be 500m, then your metric system makes sense in the track world. 1600 and 3200m?
If God had wanted us to use the metric system he'd have given us 10 fingers and 10 toes.
My 8 inches would convert to over 20 cm. That sounds so much better.
And the price per unit of gasoline would become ridiculously cheap.
Let’s go for it
I get bigger wrote:
My 8 inches would convert to over 20 cm. That sounds so much better.
And the price per unit of gasoline would become ridiculously cheap.
Let’s go for it
This is the key to success.
Instead of 6' you're suddenly 183cm! Big number.
Instead of 4" you're a rock solid 10+cm. Big number.
Instead of $5/gallon you get $1.3/L. Big savings.
Instead of 6 minute miles you do 3.43 kilometers. Insane speed.
What's not to love?
But America is #1 under the Imperial "System" countries.
What is not to love about that?
https://www.fictiv.com/blog/posts/metric-vs-imperial-units-the-greatest-one-sided-debate-of-all-time
Road signs and cars in the 70s all reflected the change. The signs said 55mph/88kph or whatever, and the car speedometers all had MPH on the top and KPH below, as speedos were analog then anyway.
Switching for real is long overdue, obviously, but the fact we never do is because of the dumb minority - they always need something to hold onto to feel current, or ahead, or relevant.
This said, I'd love it if the president one day said we're all-in for metric immediately, and weed is no longer illegal federally. I'd like him for 15 minutes or so then.
brogan1 wrote:
You will never get NFL to convert to a 9 meter 1st down and a 91 meter field.
I think you're on to something. Maybe it's the NFL's fault. Also, NBA since the rim is 10 feet high.
If the NFL would convert to a standard 100 meter field and 10 meters to a first down then that would give all the team owners the excuse to have their cities build them another stadium to comply to the new measurements.
I already use centimeters to measure my penis
metricman wrote:
This said, I'd love it if the president one day said we're all-in for metric immediately, and weed is no longer illegal federally. I'd like him for 15 minutes or so then.
That would be 15 more minutes than anyone has ever liked you