freeranger

Hope this doesn't post twice-tried it once and said I wasn't logged in-weird, since here I was typing away! Anyway, I remember a few (well, many) years back when there was a discussion about going to the metric standard. Obviously it didn't happen, but after working with SAE(American) and metric tools, I kind of wish we had. Would involve extensive re-tooling, so I guess it will never happen, but the metric system seems like it would be lots easier. Especially since we are now a "global economy" and most of the rest of the world uses the metric system.
Quick, hand me a wrench larger than my 9mm, so you give me a 10mm.
Quick, hand me a wrench 1/32" larger than my 1/2"--well? Not that difficult, but you get the idea.
And, yes, I realize there is more than one metric system (used to have an old BSA motorcycle that used "English" metric nuts and bolts! I'm talking about the "Japanese" metric system (excuse me if that is not the correct terminology-but you know what I mean).
Who thinks it would have been (or be) better to switch to the metric system?

RocketsRedglare

metric system ios so easy to figure out, and we are stuck in a purgatory of the SAE/Metric world. My tool box has both metric and SAE tools. My Bike and one of my rowing shells are metric. My car, boat and other rowing shell are SAE.

All rigging on boat is done in feet and inches, all measurements on my rowing shells and bike are done metrically

I drink water and liquor by the liter, beer by the ounce and pint.

I buy my Gasoline by the gallon.

I measure distance and speed by miles in my car and bike, meters when I'm rowing shell and Knots when I'm sailing.

I weigh myself in pounds, but my medicine is in grams

At work, graphic design is done in inches, points and picas. Web work and photos are done in Pixels

Metric is so easy to figure out and use, it would be nice just to have one system and use it. Its all about conditioning and using one system over the other

Kyle90

I hate it, I do everything in American and I'm not gonna stop.

UmneyDurak

Are you trolling?
Feet, ounces is not even an American, it's an English system that is way out of date.

Cyclon

I say we should go all metric. I totally agree on the global economy part. Going metric should make American products easier to sell in other countries.

And to make matters worse, in some industries SAE and metric units are mixed.
Car tires are usually sold with half metric and half SAE units. Example: 205/55R16. 205mm, 55% = 112.75mm sidewall, but the rim size is 16".

Kyle90

That's not trolling. I'm not in favour for everything to be done the odd way.. Plus, I hate meteric socket wrenches.. and tool sizes.

CdCf

What was it? Rods to the hogshead?

I remember an article in Scientific American (or something like that) a couple of years ago, where someone suggested that American students, on average, lose an entire semester doing conversions and learning the EEU/SAE (or whatever you feel comfortable calling it) system. Now, that's unlikely, but a month or so is fully possible, in my opinion.

Edit:
EEU = English Engineering Units
Probably the best "name" for that unit system, just as "SI" is for what's normally referred to as "metric".

UmneyDurak

Actually metric, SI, is pretty much standard around the world. So technically speaking the English system that you so love is the odd way of doing things.
Not to change the subject, but you voted for Bush right? Not trying to bring politics in to this, just seeing if my guess is correct.

7stitches

Change is Good.

Eggplant Jeff

I can take it or leave it. Honestly after you use any system long enough you know it well enough it just doesn't matter. I've used both so much on cars that I can do the conversions (the "practical" ones: 13 mm is a "big" 1/2, etc) in my sleep.

What was fun was helping my friend and his buddy (both from India, so of course familiar only with metric) build his deck. Construction is still done in "American" standard of course... Trying to get them to wrap their heads around fractional inches was the hard part. They're both computer geeks too (like me) so they have no excuse, fractional inches work perfectly in binary (3 and 9/16 = 11.1001) . Better in fact than decimal fractions.

SSP

LOL - I'm guessing you're correct (if he bothered to cast a vote).

Cyclist0383

Metric just makes sense as it is based on groups of 10. Quick, how many meters in a kilometer? How many feet in a mile? Which system makes more sense to you?

bkrownd

Real men don't fear unit conversions.

Raiyn

Claims to hate metric yet spells like a Canadian. Yup definitely. a troll. I'm guessing that this joker doesn't even work on bikes

Eros

I remember them trying to convert us back in the seventies when I was in grade-school. It didn't take but I sure wish it would have.

You do get used to all the conversions but it would be nice if everyone were on the same page.

Little programs like this help quickly. My Glover Pocket Reference has been gathering dust since I discovered it. https://www.joshmadison.com/software/convert/

Raiyn

It's so much easer to use and most everything you buy these days uses metric fastners. It's only logical to have it as a standard

Retro Grouch 

I think that we've already converted it's just that our elected officials haven't figured it out yet. As another poster pointed out, industry by industry we're gradually changing over. What size is the engine of your car? Even Chevrolet of baseball and apple pie fame uses liters to describe engine sizes. It's happening, and there's no way that anybody can stop it. It's just happening more slowly than some of us might like.

joeprim

I like having both systems around. freeranger that was not "english metric" on our BSA motorcycles it was British Standard, I still have some sockets that are BS/Whitworth. Becides which it is a convient way to teach kids about different bases. You know common base 10 and computer base 2, but bas 12 and 16 are fun too. I also hate the globle economy.

Joe

Kyle90

You know what I meant, quit being smartasses. I just don't see the use of metric, what's so dandy? It's the same, with funky shapes and numbers. Oh, and I'd rather die then vote for Bush. Personally, just out of sheer randomness. I'm never voting for any president or canidate.

I don't mind it for wieght, and stuff. I just hate it for tools.. It's annoying as hell, especially if you use them as often as I do.

Cycliste

The meter is defined as one ten-millionth (0.0000001) of the Earth's meridian quadrant at sea level. The mass unit that is known as the gram became a secondary standard based on the centimeter and the density of water. For these simple reasons, the metric system is a better standard than the emperial one.

H23

We still have to use English units in many contexts because there are too many people around who didn't pay attention in grade school and can't "get used to" SI.

CdCf

SI's only major flaw, in my opinion, is the unit of mass having a built-in prefix.
It should've been just "gram", and nothing more.
(I know the story behind it, so don't bother... )

On a more principal level, I feel the units should be re-defined in terms of Planck units in some way. Makes zero difference for everyday use though.

sestivers

I thought the meter was defined by the wavelenth of some radioactive isotope. Although it doesn't make sense that someone would have thought of something like that when the meter was first thought of.

Metric is superior in all ways unless you're sailing. One knot = one nautical mile per hour; and a nautical mile = one minute of latitude. That makes it a lot easier to use charts.

joeprim

Steve

What makes it superior? A meter, a yard = the distance from ypor nose to your out streached finger. Weight makes no sense a gram or kilogram is a mass weight is force so here the SAE system makes more sense. Like I said before having the two systems gives an oportunity to teach kids about numbers. Think about fractions for a second 12 devides by 2,3,4,6 with whole number results and rational fractions with 8,9, & 10. What othe base does that. 16 is nice because 16/2/2/2 = 2. Not all that dumb for a base either. Like I said fun with numbers.

Joe

HiYoSilver

Who cares what your opinion is? You'll not see a change in your lifetime.

The metric system was the newest sliced wonder bread in the 70's and we were going to get all the US highway signs converted to metric. Gasoline would be sold in liters instead of gallons. Beer containers would be sized in logical metric units. Happened, right?

Why not? Not because one system is intrinically superior to the other. The "English" is based on human measurements and is useful when measuring tools are not available. The metric is based on non-human measurements and it's most useful in making scaling comparisions with it's base 10 system.

Because of business. It cost too much to convert with no positive impact on profibility. Eventually the English will probably fade out. Until then we'll be cursed with conversions between the two systems. Perhaps our children won't have this problem. The problem is not with either system but with the conversions between systems.

You think you know metric? Ok, you only have a metric set, so which metric socket is best to use on a 1/4" nut?