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Should the US finally switch over to the metric system?

Should the US finally switch to the metric system?

  • Total voters
    50
CanadaJohn said:
Canada introduced the Metric System here over 40 years ago, when I was still in school, and yet go to any grocery store and things like meat and produce are still priced by the pound, etc., and it's not just because of us old people.

It's the retail trick. Anything sold by weight is listed by the pound because a kilo is about 2.1 pounds so it looks cheaper if it's sold at the by-the-pound price. Conversely, anything sold by volume is listed by the liter, such as gasoline, because there are about 4.5 liters in a gallon, so it looks cheaper if sold at the by-the-liter price.

As a result, Canadians are tricked into thinking their prime rib isn't grossly overpriced when on sale at $7 a pound instead of $15 a kilo and our gasoline doesn't cause riots when it's priced at $1.40 a liter instead of $6 a gallon.

But manufacturers in Canada and those in the US who ship to Canada would likely reduce costs and thus prices in Canada if they only had to list products in metric weight and volume and not imperial measures too. But then, they'd still have to print French and English on the products so it's a wash.
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2.2

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i use the metric system every day at my job, and it works well for science. i just don't see switching everything else to it as a priority. eventually, maybe, but our system of weights and measures works fine. the industries that would benefit most from the metric system are probably already using it. if my car's speedometer says MPH, formally switching it to KPH won't really help anything.
 
CanadaJohn said:
Canada introduced the Metric System here over 40 years ago, when I was still in school, and yet go to any grocery store and things like meat and produce are still priced by the pound, etc., and it's not just because of us old people.

It's the retail trick. Anything sold by weight is listed by the pound because a kilo is about 2.1 pounds so it looks cheaper if it's sold at the by-the-pound price. Conversely, anything sold by volume is listed by the liter, such as gasoline, because there are about 4.5 liters in a gallon, so it looks cheaper if sold at the by-the-liter price.

As a result, Canadians are tricked into thinking their prime rib isn't grossly overpriced when on sale at $7 a pound instead of $15 a kilo and our gasoline doesn't cause riots when it's priced at $1.40 a liter instead of $6 a gallon.

But manufacturers in Canada and those in the US who ship to Canada would likely reduce costs and thus prices in Canada if they only had to list products in metric weight and volume and not imperial measures too. But then, they'd still have to print French and English on the products so it's a wash.
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Shipping any manufactured good to another country is always going to be tricky. Different countries have different environmental, safety, and product standards that the exporter has to be aware of. Switching between imperial and metric is a minor thing, all things considered.

Canada jumped gung-ho on the metric bandwagon 40 years ago. USA looked your way and said "meh."

To this day, both Canada and the UK use both metric and imperial, practically speaking. We export to Canada using imperial, not metric, for example. And I've never had a discussion with a Canadian and talked anything but farenheit and inches, unlike with the Europeans, who don't know or understand those measurements.

But, we do sell our soda in liters. So there's always that.
 
Can anyone explain why we sell Coke by the liter, but everything else is imperial? That's just weird to me.
 
I have a science background and had to use it alot for that. Weird...the 'official' language of science, for publishing, etc, is English, but the data is metric.
 
Mycroft said:
1. I didn't respond to your poll because I didn't like your snarky additions to the simple choices. I would have willingly answered with a plain "no".

2. I don't care about what the rest of the world uses. If I ever have to convert something...well, that's what the internet is for and it's pretty cheap.

3. There is no active movement in the US to convert because nobody...except a few, like you, who insist we become more like Europe...really cares about it.
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1) Dull,
2) provincial and
3) anti intellectual.

I can see where your politics reside.

LOL

I
 
SlevinKelevra said:
Sure.

Do most people (ugh) know

how to convert between pounds and kilograms (trick question)
what the Rankine is
horsepower(which one) to watts?

........
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How about confusing ounces (volume) with ounces (weight)....not to mention knowing if it's avoirdupois or Troy ounces. Stupidity at its finest.
 
Declan said:
Would a billion new highway signs really substantially improve infrastructure?
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The national association of highway sign manufacturers believes our highway infrastructure will be much improved by a billion new signs.
 
 
Peter Grimm said:
Can anyone explain why we sell Coke by the liter, but everything else is imperial? That's just weird to me.
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I'd be happy if they would just stop changing the tops every few years.
 
Montecresto said:
Have you seen how many of them that are shot full of holes by rednecks?
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The more complicated the math you do in your head, the smarter you seem to become. And multiplying by 10 is too easy by that standard.

But is is surely more difficult to sell Cadillacs in a metric economy.
 
I think all measurement labeling needs to have the metric system displayed in equal font sizes.

We already use metric measuring for currency as well as pharmaceuticals.
 
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SlevinKelevra said:
Just pointing out that most people probably can't do conversions correctly.
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Most people have plenty of time to look up the necessary conversions. It really isn't that hard to do. And if they don't have the "skills", "ability" to actually perform those conversions, then they have seriously bigger issues than whatever is requiring those conversions to begin with.
 
roguenuke said:
Most people have plenty of time to look up the necessary conversions. It really isn't that hard to do. And if they don't have the "skills", "ability" to actually perform those conversions, then they have seriously bigger issues than whatever is requiring those conversions to begin with.
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Yeah. Its just stupid people who cant do it, with no 'ability' or 'skills'.

CNN - Metric mishap caused loss of NASA orbiter - September 30, 1999

Honestly. I convert most stuff to metric in my head all the time. Its just easier that way, especially when cooking. How many friggin tablespooons in a quarter cup? Who knows? A tbsp is 15 mls and a cup is 240ml - much easier. But anytime you have to convert, it adds a measure of error. Why bother to convert when we can just stick with the system that makes sense - metric?
 
Threegoofs said:
We are basically the last country to not use the metric system in our day to day lives - we measure temperature in Farenheit, distances in feet.yards and miles, and have a ridiculous volume and weight measurement system of cups, ounces, quarts, gallons, etc.

Its an antiquated system that costs the US milions each year by having to convert, tool things in english units (5/8 in wrenches?) etc. Our kids need to learn both systems, and tend to learn neither well.

Why is there no active movement in the US to upgrade our systems?

Why dont we just bite the bullet and change already?

Nice article that may jump start the popular cry: Why Americans still use Fahrenheit long after everyone else switched to Celsius - Vox
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no need to ... most of us are capable of operating , day to day, using all kinds of units of measure.

it's really not that difficult.
 
Threegoofs said:
Yeah. Its just stupid people who cant do it, with no 'ability' or 'skills'.

CNN - Metric mishap caused loss of NASA orbiter - September 30, 1999

Honestly. I convert most stuff to metric in my head all the time. Its just easier that way, especially when cooking. How many friggin tablespooons in a quarter cup? Who knows? A tbsp is 15 mls and a cup is 240ml - much easier. But anytime you have to convert, it adds a measure of error. Why bother to convert when we can just stick with the system that makes sense - metric?
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Because we already use a different system and they would still have to convert. We are already used to using the other system and it would cost billions, probably more to convert everything.

What do we do with the fasteners that are all Standard system measures but in buildings, cars, and so much other stuff here in America? Hell, the vast majority of our ships are filled with Standard measure items. So much so that we normally use Standard tools but specifically had to get a brand new set when we bought one (crappy) piece of equipment from Europe. We simply cannot afford to switch over all at once, and too few Americans care enough or want to change enough to endure the length of time it would take to convert.
 
roguenuke said:
Because we already use a different system and they would still have to convert. We are already used to using the other system and it would cost billions, probably more to convert everything.

What do we do with the fasteners that are all Standard system measures but in buildings, cars, and so much other stuff here in America? Hell, the vast majority of our ships are filled with Standard measure items. So much so that we normally use Standard tools but specifically had to get a brand new set when we bought one (crappy) piece of equipment from Europe. We simply cannot afford to switch over all at once, and too few Americans care enough or want to change enough to endure the length of time it would take to convert.
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Love that classic American can-do spirit!

I'm pretty sure we can afford it. In fact, it will probably end up saving money in the long run.

Other nations seemed to handle changing.
 
Threegoofs said:
Love that classic American can-do spirit!

I'm pretty sure we can afford it. In fact, it will probably end up saving money in the long run.

Other nations seemed to handle changing.
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Over many years, sure. I believe you are grossly underestimating how many things we have that require a measurement that would be different between standard and metric. The military is already looking for ways to reduce costs and almost everything we have aboard is standard size equipment. The vast majority of those we buy stuff from use standard measured equipment. This would mean a lot of money in replacement costs, especially since all of our tools would also have to be replaced.

Those other countries that switched are also much smaller than the US. We have the largest military by far in the world. It took Canada 10 years and they're still not completely converted, with children still being taught at home standard and only getting taught metric at school. The UK got pushed into it by the EU, but struggled for decades to switch over. The UK still too has some hold overs. Australia is another one that has been working on it for decades, spending at least 15M Australian dollars in the 70s and early 80s just by the government. And they still aren't completely changed.
 
Goshin said:
I learned metric in the 70s, when the initiative to change was on, and before it flopped.

I'm good with meters, kilometers, liters, all that stuff.... found it very handy in doing scientific calculations too.

The one I STILL have trouble with is Celsius vs Fahrenheit.... I can't seem to stop thinking in Fahrenheit and struggle convert C to F in my head.

The idea, back in the 70s, was to use both measurement systems for a long time until people were equally comfortable with either. Didn't really work out, lack of motivation I suppose.
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My experience was the same.

Ya know, if we had just sucked it up then and done it, it'd be done now. Metric does make more sense, and is easier, but now I'm older and more mellow and don't really give a crap.
 
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