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Changing to the Metric system

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Blurst
Posts: 13577 - Karma: 10,169
Seriously? Why doesnt the US get with the times and scrap the shitty imperial system. It makes no sense and the entire world runs on the metric system now. The US just needs to stop being so damn stubborn with their ridiculous measurement system.
Dec 15 2011 9:31AM
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Liam.Butler
Posts: 709 - Karma: 17
No, he is Russian and we don't have a draftsmen. The drawings given to us are created by various companies in the GTA. It gets really bad and sometimes we will have a drawing with both imperial and metric on it. The worst drawing we have been given though was on a napkin.
Dec 15 2011 10:27PM
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corona
Posts: 12795 - Karma: 32,750
lol. yea some people are just straight retarded. surprisingly some of the worst drawings we get are from larger companies. Bombardier for instance, the drawings usually spot on, but sometimes they are done by someone who sits at an office all day and doesn't actually do any of the work and occasionally will neglect stuff like units and angles and all those important things. Usually though my dad does the drawings himself, the person will give a rough idea of what they want and he'll start from scratch right from the initial design to final product.
Dec 15 2011 10:33PM
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dreadyboy
Posts: 2306 - Karma: 34
My grampas a carpenter and he only uses metric. Obviously he has to use imperial when buying wood, so he's fine with it, but for his own measurements and shit he uses meters. It just makes more sense, and if you really need fractions you can use tenths, so like 3 and 4 tenths instead of 3.4, makes more sense then eighths.
Dec 15 2011 10:44PM
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Phormat
Posts: 774 - Karma: 20
First of I'm American, so my bias against changing, is that for me, it's more difficult to conceive speed in km/h vs. mph. Another would be temperature, all I know is that -40C=-40F, 0C, and 100C. That could easily change if I were born in a different country.

That being said, I'm also an engineer, and for precise measurement the metric system has many advantages. It sort of seems natural to think in base 10s because he have 10 fingers vs. 12.

My Dad has a sophisticated machine shop, and we routinely cut parts down to the nanometer scale, yet he is still convinced that the imperial system is better. I don't know why, but I'll definitely get his opinion.

Another interesting fact is that the current U.S. foot is actually based off the meter. (See North American Datum of 1983 or NAD83)

I still feel that in dividing an arbitrary object, it's easy to cut in half and so forth. However fractions can be used with any system of measure, not just Imperial.
Dec 15 2011 11:14PM
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Phormat
Posts: 774 - Karma: 20
Actually with the whole fractions deal. Say you have 1/164, you automatically know you have 164 parts to make the whole (I know this sounds obvious but hold on for a sec). That in decimals would be: 0.0060975. See now, unless you are a genius at math, you probably have no idea how many (0.0060975s) it would take to equal one, you still have to do some computations to figure it out, or make a rough estimate at first.

Did they decide on 12 vs. 10 because of this? Fifths are harder to gauge than fourths I suppose.
Dec 15 2011 11:21PM
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I.B
Posts: 8137 - Karma: 24,351
This.
Dec 15 2011 11:24PM
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Dhane
Posts: 3866 - Karma: 1,722
Click for larger image
Dec 15 2011 11:26PM
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james6345789
Posts: 4763 - Karma: 467
when my dad was a kid they were preparing to switch
Dec 15 2011 11:32PM
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cow.
Posts: 416 - Karma: 200
do none of you realize that the metric system isn't the abolition of fractions?

the difference between the two is the bases, not the usage of fractions. you can equally use fractions with the metric system, it's just that the construction industry is (for some reason) remarkably resilient to change.

you can still have your fractions you love so much.




1/8, 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, etc. of an inch is a retarted way to do it.

in metric, it'd look more like this:

1/10, 2/10, 3/10, 4/10, etc.

just sayin.




and to whoever was saying that 3/10 and 7/10 both equalled some gross number:

5/12, 7/12 and 11/12 aren't so pretty either.




good night.

Dec 16 2011 12:53AM
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JIB_WALRUS
Posts: 671 - Karma: 130
they technically did switch everyone is just too poor/lazy to do so
Dec 16 2011 12:55AM
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cow.
Posts: 416 - Karma: 200
thank you. did not see this before i posted. +myopinionofyourintelligence
Dec 16 2011 1:38AM
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Jthoms
Posts: 201 - Karma: 13
hahaha shit yeah i definitely meant cursive
Dec 16 2011 1:43AM
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squibble
Posts: 4569 - Karma: 104
uhh

so its easier to say 6 foot 2 inches than it is to say 188 centimeters? cm wins.

trying to achieve accuracy for human weight is moot. it fluctuates with shitting, pissing, eating, and hydration. kg wins

a metric wrench set is different than an imperial one, i mean the corresponding 8mm wrench =/= whatever that is in inches, so it would be a matter of changing 2x4s to 5x10s or something, not 5.xx by 10.xx

as far as visualization goes, i grew up with imperial but through school i can now see how long 40 cm is relative to a foot, it just takes getting used to

i dont really care, i do like inches and feet, but i hate gallons, WTF is a gallon

Dec 16 2011 2:09AM
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feihlination
Posts: 8356 - Karma: 1,084
street cred +1 for the metric system.

even nfl-player-drugdealers use kilos to negotiate their deals.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d825129c0/article/bears-wr-hurd-facing-federal-drug-charges-after-arrest?module=HP11_headline_stack

i just lold with this thread in the back of my mind and all when they explained how much a kilo is.
Dec 16 2011 6:59AM
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Mike-O
Posts: 14593 - Karma: 1,089
Haha, good on him.

It's not that I've ever actually learned the whole Imperial system, but every single thing about using it seems futile.

Precision and comparability between different units is the name of the game and Metric takes the cake on that any day of the week.
Dec 16 2011 7:25AM
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RickAstley
Posts: 953 - Karma: 32
Ok it seems to me that everybody is arguing for what ever they are used to, which is fair enough as you're obviously going to be biased to what your grew up with. Metric is probably a little simpler but realistically what harm is it doing America in using the imperial system? Non at all. So is it worth all the money it would take to switch? Not at all.
Dec 16 2011 9:11AM
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cow.
Posts: 416 - Karma: 200
wut? you haven to learn two systems instead of one, people need to spend time and money adapting their product to your country's system. even countries near you need to waste time learning your silly system.
Dec 16 2011 11:42AM
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PlaygroundRapist
Posts: 1307 - Karma: 26
For people saying you need imperial units in woordwork:

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Dec 16 2011 12:29PM
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Hoppy
Posts: 685 - Karma: 95
It's pretty much 50/50 at a butchers, for example, the price will be displayed in kg and pounds/ounces (i think the kg price has to be displayed bigger). One pound of bacon please!

I also work in the building trade. If im measuring something, i just use whatevers nearest on the tape measure.
Dec 16 2011 12:41PM
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Mike-O
Posts: 14593 - Karma: 1,089
That Imperial cabinet...

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Dec 16 2011 12:41PM
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corona
Posts: 12795 - Karma: 32,750
wtf is going on in that picture. nothing even adds up properly
Dec 16 2011 12:55PM
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Toasty.
Posts: 6195 - Karma: 2,281
didnt read thread. but living in germany and the us. the metric system is way easier. but it would cost millions to take down and put up new signs
Dec 16 2011 1:03PM
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Bonzalo
Posts: 2593 - Karma: 1,812
Its a cabinet with it specifications in metric and imperial system, you can tell wich one is easier to use.
Dec 18 2011 11:47AM
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Mike-O
Posts: 14593 - Karma: 1,089
Wouldn't it also generate new job opportunities? People would be need to taught the new system, manpower would be needed to manufacture and change all needed signs and info etc. If the only reason for any change is cost then it has to re-evaluated over and over until people understand that money cannot be the main issue for driving that change.

I'm sure it will happen sometime in the near future, it's only logical.
Dec 20 2011 3:31PM
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dergblerp
Posts: 1303 - Karma: 77
this. Fuck the metric system.
Dec 20 2011 4:00PM
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Mike-O
Posts: 14593 - Karma: 1,089
Joking or not, that's kind of the attitude that the rest of the world hates you for. Stereotypically speaking, that is.

"Durr, why me change, me betta!"
Dec 20 2011 4:25PM
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paige.
Posts: 1932 - Karma: 924
Obviously the cabinet was designed in imperial and then the conversion to metric didn't make nice numbers. But you could make a cabinet 1m x 3/4m and guess what? It would seem way easier than making a cabinet 39.37inches x 29.53inches. The two systems don't convert nicely between each other. Whichever you start with is going to seem 'easier'. That doesn't automatically make one better suited to the task. Cooking in metric when the recipe is written in imperial measurements is just as annoying the reverse.


For metric vs. imperial I find it way easier to add/subtract with decimals than fractions. Similarly moving between units is way easier in metric. Not only with the whole 1000mm/100cm/1m etc but 1cm^3=1ml=1g (if it's water).
Dec 20 2011 4:50PM
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timmi
Posts: 12874 - Karma: 3,460
Canada switched to the metric system during my dads time. Not sure what year, but there's proof it can be done. I don't care one way or another what you guys do.
Dec 20 2011 4:56PM
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maxwell666
Posts: 554 - Karma: 20
the metric system is better and less arbitrary. a meter cubed of water weighs a metric tonne, 1 cm cubed is 1 ml and 1 gram of water. thats pretty handy isnt it?

But, it would be way to expensive to switch, building materials road signs, maps spedometers, scales, radars, military equipment, tools, school curriculum and everything that has to be measured, weather stations, tons of software, and for lots of small shops like family garages and car shops would have obsolete useless tools. it would cost a terrible amount of money.
Jan 8 2012 3:08AM
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chicken
Posts: 6843 - Karma: 2,123
fuck the metrics syoen,
Jan 8 2012 3:40AM
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chicken
Posts: 6843 - Karma: 2,123
shit i meant fuck the imperial system

OH CANADA

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Jan 8 2012 3:41AM
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sim
Posts: 1399 - Karma: -6
Ask NASA.
Jan 8 2012 4:56AM
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skifoo
Posts: 1396 - Karma: 45
also i dont like farenheit. celcius is much better, and easier. Water freezes at 0, doesnt that make more sense 32?
yes, it does.
Jan 8 2012 5:38AM
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hoodratz47
Posts: 12020 - Karma: 9,475
The Metric Conversion Actis an Act ofCongress that then–U.S.President Gerald Ford signed into law on December 23, 1975. It declared the Metric system "the preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce", but permitted the use of United States customary unitsin non-business activities. The Act also established the United States Metric Board with representatives from scientific, technical, and educational institutions, as well as state and local governments to plan, coordinate, and educate the American people for the Metrication of the United States.



we have metric. its listed on every thing but gasoline..
usa again. is fucking rad.
Jan 8 2012 6:14AM
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chicken
Posts: 6843 - Karma: 2,123
Here is another sad story. So I bought a chevy truck two years ago and it broke down on the side of the road. I walked to the store and went to purchase a set of wrenches. Now I'm obviously thinking this is an American truck, so the bolts must all be imperial. So I buy a $120 set of wrenches which are like twice as nice as my metric ones. Well guess what, I guess GM has switched to the metric system as well. Now I have a super nice set of wrenches and the only one I ever really use is the 3/4" one.

I guess the engineers at GM have been brought up in a metric environment. For other engineers from the USA what do you use? I think if the states switches it will be because of you guys.
Jan 8 2012 2:15PM
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geteducated
Posts: 6410 - Karma: 86
i actually like the imperial system for some things. i prefer to read the temp in imperial measurements during summer and metric in the winter.
Jan 8 2012 3:46PM
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Capernicus
Posts: 382 - Karma: 218
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Jan 14 2012 10:57AM
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maxwell666
Posts: 554 - Karma: 20
so it feels colder in the winter with lower numbers and warmer in the summer when you want bigger numbers?
Jan 14 2012 8:21PM
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