I really get tired of converting from inches to metric.
According to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's online The World Factbook (2016), the only countries that have not adopted the metric system are Myanmar (also known as Burma), Liberia and the United States. Is there some reason for this? Two lazy to change? To dumb to learn a new system?
Two sets of wrenches, two sets of sockets...
Things are sold in US measurements but when you actually measure them they are in metric dimensions. Water in plastic containers...16.9 FL or 1.05 PT or 500 mL.
I really get tired of converting from inches to metric.
According to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's online The World Factbook (2016), the only countries that have not adopted the metric system are Myanmar (also known as Burma), Liberia and the United States. Is there some reason for this? Two lazy to change? To dumb to learn a new system?
Two sets of wrenches, two sets of sockets...
Things are sold in US measurements but when you actually measure them they are in metric dimensions. Water in plastic containers...16.9 FL or 1.05 PT or 500 mL.
Irritating!!
Billy
Totally understand your frustration, Billy.
Australia converted from imperial to metric in the 1970's. We have never looked back. I have to admit I am still surprised that countries that have not converted include where you are.
BTW: I am totally conversant in either system, I have and continually use many machine tools including micrometers and calipers that are imperial, but know which system I definitely prefer.
Some photos below of my engineering designs and development, all designed / manufactured in-house by me, and the last one is me using an imperial micrometer - just so you know I can use one
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Billy I totally agree. I worked for 39 years in R&D where the metric system was used. It is such an easy system to learn and use. I'm all for changing over to the metric system.
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
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I've been upset about my "measurement" for years.....
Turning 70 soon? Can't guarantee an improvement, sorry
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When I was in grade school in the early 1970s, they did start us on the path of learning the metric system. That lasted a few years then it just seemed to drop from curriculums. I haven't Googled enough to find the reasons at the time.
Well...there are certain times when I actually prefer imperial measurements. I also run CNC machines and I find it a little easer to think in thousandths of an inch. I also have no issue machining metric.
I understand it cost money to convert to the metric system and I also understand the metric system does not lend itself to the use of fractions...but this is a world we now live in based on standards.
My irritation is not about any specific system, it is about standards. The same goes for language. I can think in French but I have to translate from English to Spanish in my head. I enjoy speaking Spanish with my friends here in Miami but I get irritated when I go to the drug store and need to have a technical conversation. Speak in the damn language of your money...lol
I am not asking for a universal language but I want to conduct business in the common language of the country with certain exceptions. What language do you think a South Korean pilot talks to the tower in at a airport in Paris, France?
We do not have an official language in the United States. And contrary to popular belief we are not the center of the known universe...lol
... What language do you think a South Korean pilot talks to the tower in at a airport in Paris, France?
Isn't that English?
Yes Matt, it is English by international agreement. I have not looked at the history of aircraft communications. I would assume we started out with no standards and perhaps French may have been used at one time. I say that because French was the universal language of diplomacy for many years.
Billy
EDIT: After a quick look I don't see any other language other than English every having been used. In fact the FAA only came into being in 1956. Large numbers of international flights are pretty recent in history. Did Lindbergh even have a radio?
In Canada we adopted the metric system many years ago, and I have learned it of necessity. In the beginning it seemed like it would be strictly enforced (don't know how) and the switch seemed to be complete. I remember seeing an architectural metric house plan. The standard measurement was millimetres! YUP, can you imagine?
An 8' x 12' room = ~2438mm x 3658mm. Do you think carpenters at the time welcomed that change? lol
Since then it seems like the "laws" have slipped a little. You can still buy a 2x4 at the lumber yard and items are sometimes advertised by the pound. I pity the school kids here nowadays. They have to learn the metric system only to run across these anomalies.
It's a good thing the dollar was already divided into 100. And that's my 2¢ (CDN).
... What language do you think a South Korean pilot talks to the tower in at a airport in Paris, France?
Isn't that English?
Presumably because that's what Wilbur and Orville spoke
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Turning 70 soon? Can't guarantee an improvement, sorry
I've been relegated to duct tape and tongue depressors for YEARS, Trev...
It's all falling apart at once here!! Paid closer attention to my hair this morning after my shower than I usually do and it is really getting gray. Seems like with every wash the gray is more pronounced. Aftermarket knee, surgically squeegeed right eye, to be followed by the same process on the left one next month. Diabetes. PTSD. And of course that other thing...
As then 75 year old news reporter Billy Noonan originally said back in the year I was born, if I had known I was going to live this long I would have taken better care of myself when I was young.
The United States Congress passed the Metric Conversion Act in 1975. It was part of many energy saving measures adopted during that time period.
The Act proposed a ten year plan to convert the US from Imperial to Metric measurements. One of the most visible examples of change was speed limit signs displayed speed limits in both miles per hour and kilometers per hour. Another highly visible example is vehicle speedometers display both mph and kph.
Unfortunately, our politicians made conversion voluntary. Since the initial push the conversion has stalled.
Here in the UK we have a mix of metric and imperial, but strangely it all seems to work OK. The currency is now metric (since 1971) but personal measurements are feet and inches or pounds and ounces. Distances are in miles and we drink beer in pints. Petrol (gas) is in litres and you can buy milk in litres or pints. Occasionally you can still find a bolt which has a Whitworth thread, but that's another story and one for those who have an old British motorbike.
At the end of the day, I think it's just what you get used to.
As Rog said, here in the UK we seem to use either. Personally I tend to use metric for everything except temperature. Centigrade is all well and good but Fahrenheit just feels warmer to me.
I am quite happy in the UK using either - most of my tape measures have both. but the rope cutter on the prop shaft of my boat is an american design and needs an 11/64ths allen key. metric or imperial that's extremely strange!
Here was the event that caused the irritation about the system of measurement yesterday.
I needed 3MM solder but some but not all solder sold in the United States is sold in imperial measurements.
Who can convert 3MM to inches in their head? 3MM = 0.1811 Who can convert 0.1811 to MM in their head.
3 divided by 25.4 = 0.1811
0.1811 X 25.4 = 2.99974 or round up to 3
I want to buy a damn roll of solder not do math conversion formulas or ask the internet to do the conversion.
I want to buy it in English and I don't want to need to remember it is called soldado in Spanish.
This would have someone else issue to solve in the past because I would have ask for it in person or on the phone. I rarely buy anything in person or on the phone any longer.
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202 New RealTracks Released with Band-in-a-Box 2026!
With Band-in-a-Box® 2026, we've released 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 468-488) in a variety of genres—featuring your most requested styles!
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MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
MIDI SuperTracks Set 46: Piano & Organ
Instrumental Studies Set 24: Groovin' Blues Soloing
Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
Playable RealTracks Set 5
RealDrums Stems Set 9: Cool Brushes
SynthMaster Sounds Set 1 (with audio demos)
iOS Android Band-in-a-Box® App
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FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
MIDI Styles Set 93: Look Ma! More MIDI 16: SynthMaster
MIDI SuperTracks Set 47: More SynthMaster
Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
Artist Performance Set 20: Songs with Vocals 10
RealDrums Stems Set 10: Groovin' Sticks
SynthMaster Sounds & Styles Set 2 (sounds & styles with audio demos)
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