How Come Inches Instead Of Centimeters?

Yes,

I believe you about the switch taking time. But I also believe that it is inevitable, also in the US. Kind of like french and german (languages) loosing their dominant position to english and spanish. By the way, when I bought my first car, a 1969 Volvo Amazon, the first thing I did was go buy a set of fixed wrenches. Turns out Volvo made their engines in standard up to the early 70’s…

I’m from the UK and I record my measurements in metric in order to gain more precision. I’m measuring weekly and it’s easier to measure and record a gain of 1 mm than a gain of less than 1/16 of an inch. Using mm allows me to use whole numbers rather than fractions, again.. Simpler.

I grew up using both metric and imperial and I must say I prefer metric. I’m sure the whole world will eventually embrace it, although it may take 100 years.

It might work mgus, but us old farts don’t do metric very well. The mixing of the two systems is what caused us to chuck a couple of Mars probes into the crapper. Besides, it’s something I am too old to worry about.

Just like all the world will embrace ethnic diversity. I’m sure it is just around the corner. Older people will continue to use the Imperial system, and they’ll pass it down to their children. It isn’t going to disappear for a long time.

Just to let you know, precision and accuracy are two different things.

Metric is like magic. It’s just an illusion. It’s just trickery, I tell ya. How’d they get all of those little dashes on the ruler? Has anyone actually really counted them?

I believe the US still uses the IS because we want to keep it as a distraction to immigration. We want to keep everyone confused.

As long as you don’t try to convert from IS to MS or vice versa in serious situations like the Mars lander as Thunder said, you’ll be fine. That is when problems come in, because people aren’t exact enough in their conversions. Whether it be an inch or 2.54 cm, it is still the same distance no matter what you label it.

Actually, embracing the metric system is the opposite of embracing ethnic diversity. And young kids grow up using the net, even though their parents went to drive-in movies…

So American football is going to change the field measurements? Which basically changes the entire game. What Thunder was trying to put delicately earlier is that the IS is too imbedded in society for it to change anytime soon. Cars, sports, construction, etc….is all based on the IS, and to change the IS you would be changing these. It would just be too difficult.

Well, as you see from my signature I’m not that good with delicately put points…

No, I don’t think it’ll change anytime soon. But eventually you’ll come around too. Just like we have come around to appreciate all the good things from the new continent.

I’m certainly not trying to step on your toes, it’s just that for all practical purposes (and that goes for anything engineered) the metric system kicks ass. Which is why we quit using the riksaln and tunnland and verktum and stuff like that - the old Swedish verions of the IS. By the way, when I was working construction in California it took me a couple of months to get my “feel” for IS, but I used to use 3 feet = 1 yard ~ 1 meter, and then I’d have to multiply or divide by three all the time. And even though I got used to it, the very idea of conversion factors is simply no good.

But for stuff like football fields etc, no matter what the actual distance the old names for the measurements would be used. Like Unicorn pointed out, we still talk about 18-tums tire rims here. And with the onslaught of Irish pubs, we have gotten used to pints of beer as well!

Well in Sweden and Europe (except UK perhaps) we are used to changing a lot more than field measurements. In 1969 Sweden changed from traffic driving on the left to traffic on the right. Most countries in Europe changed their currency to Euro, etc etc.
If we can, I am sure you can.

And as mgus said, in science a non-decimal system really stinks and will slow down progress. When it comes to measuring dicks and TV-screens, it really doesn’t matter that much, but when sending things into outer space, I would be ashame using an antique measuring system.

As mgus, I have worked in the US. I worked at a major US University doing scientific research and in that field everyone had at that time accepted that science should be done in a decimal-based measuring system.

In due time world will be metric.

Oden

It’s only a matter of time before we will be forced to accept a decimal calander and clock.

I would love that. Do you have a candidate calender and clock that I can start promoting.

We need to change the GPS longitude/latitude WGS datum as well. Anything more before the world is perfect? :)

Damn liberals. ;)

Actually, at the time of the french revolution - around the beginning of the metric system - there was an attempt at dividing the minute in 100 seconds. It never stuck, and the only modern use I have heard of it is football (soccer) sports commentators talking of “french seconds” at the end of a game, when time was suddenly up and they thought time passed too fast.

There’s no point in dividing a minute into 100 seconds. If you’re going to go metric with time you may as well go the whole hog and have 10 hours in a day, 100 minutes in an hour and 100 seconds in a minute. That would work quite nicely.

Also on the subject of stupid combinations of metric and imperial, I was in Ireland recently and they have Road signs for Distances in km but road signs for speed in mph. How Irish is that?