A general rant on things metric

[xarir]

Canada, for a long time, has used the metric system. Most of the world uses metric so it's useful that our wonderful country is generally in synch with everyone else.

I vaguely recall taking a road trip when I was a kid (in the back of the station wagon with no seat belts!) that the speed limit was 60 mph. But then it came time to actually learn stuff in school (grade 1) and we started learning this new thing called the metric system. I recall our teacher having troubles with it as she kept referring to a card that told us how many cubic centimetres were in a litre etc. Over time, Canada became somewhat more metric. Now it's relatively easy to find packaged goods in grocery stores being sold by kilogram and not by pound.

So here's my rant - 30+ years after instituting the metric system, why are we still so insistent on quoting certain measurements in the imperial system? People's height & weight are in feet, inches & pounds still (metres, centimetres, kilos). New houses / apartments are in square feet (square metres). And the new nutrition labels tell me energy in calories (kilojoules) and note the difference if I add a half cup of milk (millilitres). New cars are all about horsepower (kilojoules) and torque in foot-pounds (Newton-metres).

Most people in Canada probably would have no idea if a 278 sq m house is a good size. But tell them that it's a 3000 sq ft house and they'll know immediately if that's what they want.

Obviously our proximity to the US has a lot to do with this. But we're a country in our own right and we can and do approch things differently. Why should we be living in a dual system of measurements? The rest of the world is 100% metric. They sell dwellings in square metres, they know their height in metres, the measure their weight in kilos ...

What's taking Canada so long?

 

[BiggieE]

Simple really....You're too close to US......hehe

 

[xarir]

I should perhaps note what triggered this mild rant. I was looking at a box of cereal that had a new Nutrition Facts label on it.

http://www.kelloggs.ca/nutrition/ci_nl.htm

I compared the new label with one on an older box. The old box tells me energy in calories & in joules. It also tells me the difference in nutrition if I added 250mL of milk as opposed to half a cup. So the new one has more imperial measurements than the old one did.

And I was thinking, "This is the new nutrition label?! Isn't this a step backwards?"

 

[the_big_E]

to be more precise, 1" = 2.54 cm

 

[Lil'Miss]

Screw the metric system. If the US is too good for it, than it shouldn't even exist.



Miss

 

[Keebler Elf]

The only reason we still use metric is b/c of our export/import relationship with the US.

Even in the US, all scientific vocations use metric.

 

[raydeon]

Almost 30 years after the metric system was instaured in this country, we still deal with feet, inches, miles, degrees F, etc...
Why? Are we not able or willing to make a complete change?

I will tell you why:
1/ Newsmedia, radio stations.... they still give temperature in the old system as well.
2/ Ridiculous conversions reported by the newspapers, for exemple.... a passenger was ejected 30 ft (9.144 m). Now the 30 ft was an approximate distance to begin with, so why go to a ridiculous precision in converting. 10 m. would be quite sufficient in that case. You see that everyday.

After a year or 2, the old miles/feet/pounds/deg.F....should have been abandonned completely. As long as you keep both systems in use, people will never learn and understand the metric system. We have the living proof of that 30 years later.
I came in Canada at the time when only the Imperial system was in use. Within a few months I had converted from metric to it without any problems, because that was the only system in use. When Canada switched to metric in 1975, I had no problem reconverting because I started using metric only and not making a conversion. That is the only way to learn and understand it.

In Europe, two years after the old currencies were abandonned for the € (Euro) everyone is using Euros without difficulty. Why? Because after a one year of using both the new € and old multiple currencies (francs, marks, liras, crowns....) the only one in use was €. As long as we continue to use both systems we will never be fully metric.
You do not learn a new language by translating. You do by thinking directly in the new language. Canadians are just as smart as anybody else. Let's eliminate the obsolete Imperial measurement system.

 

[to-guy69]

The metric system was introduced in 1971 to Canadians and for all of the reasons previously mentioned.....it will never replace the imperial system in people's everyday lives as long as we are this close to the US (media, import/export, generation gap, ect.)

 

[yychobbyist]

It's not entirely true that the rest of the world has gone totally metric Xarir. You'll still find that some in England and Australia still use the older imperial system as well. But i do agree with your general point.

 

[james t kirk]

I can use both.

I measure myself in feet and pounds, true.

But temperature is metric

speed is metric

distance is metric

I order food in grams or kilograms for the most part

Automobiles are ALL metric now, even those made in the states. Every nut and bolt as far as I am aware is metric.

Science is all metric all around the world.

When MTO has a bridge designed, all the components are in metric, but the railways still operate in imperial.

Houses are built to feet and inches still. Doors are still 32", tiles are 12 x 12, pipe sizes are in inches, wire sizes in AWG and I don't expect that to change anytime soon.

TV's are all inches too.

It's only been 30 years. Somethings take hundreds of years to change. Even the USA will be metric one day.

 

[thighspy]

A--Farting---?????

You are all using "Metric" Have for the last 150 years---It;s called" Money" Dollars Etc Etc....

Life is too short to hurry.

 

[AA_date]

i was once told by someone that i owed them a metre of beer

 

[Meister]

The metric system was introduced in 1971 to Canadians and for all of the reasons previously mentioned.....it will never replace the imperial system in people's everyday lives as long as we are this close to the US (media, import/export, generation gap, ect.)

Yes it will.

Our beloved all American GM and Ford cars are designed in metric. Why you ask? Because now we have common global platforms on which various shells are installed onto, such as Opel, Saab, Pontiac. The rest of the industry will follow.

btw, how many cubic inches are in a cubic foot?

Exactly, imperial makes no sense.

 

[oldjones]

We're not metric yet because all the young sprogs schooled only in metric still defer to their imperial elders—”old guys like me. Bless them for it, but we'll never finish the job we started in 1971 until they insist we talk their metric measures, instead of them learning imperial on the job.

Mind you, because imperial's measures are based on everyday uses and body parts: A yard is a pace, an inch is the width of a thumb, a foot is, well, a foot, and because the measures divide the way we humans see divisions: divide in two's a half, half of that's 1/4, half of that's 1/8 etc. the Imperial system is the system that makes sense. Example: find the mark on your metre stick that represents 1/3 of a metre (trick question, there's no such mark, but there is in a foot or a yard)

A decimal system has a base only divisible by 2 and 5, the twelve inch based imperial foot can be divided by 2, 3, 4, 6, making it much more useful for the real world of workplace and marketplace. But much less useful for decimal calculation done at desks, where the metric system comes into its glory. BTW, as any old guy knows, there are 1728 cu in in a cu ft; how much does half a litre of nice cold, say 4ºC, spring water weigh?

And speaking of Celsius, am I the only one who thinks Celsius hasn't got enough degrees? Fahrenheit used approx. twice as many cover the same freeze-to-boil range. When the temperature dropped a degree F, I could distinctly feel it. If it drops a degree C I really feel it, but I felt it before anything showed on the thermometer. In fact, a half degree C. is quite noticeable, and if only the concept of "half" was respectable in the metric world we might get weather reports (and be able to buy thermometers) as sensitive as our skins. But tenths of a degree thatmetric likes? way too finicky for daily life.

Still and all, it's plain dumb to sit straddling the fence, never sure what the measure of anything really is—and thanks to Mulroney's GST never sure what the bill will be either. Easy marks, we Canadians eh? High time we finished the conversion. The Chinese are on the metric side of the fence y'know.

 

[Boyscout352]

Smilar to what oldjones said;

Depending on what you are measuring its easy to remember using one method by using a basic reference, while its hard using the other method.

Its true, you can use your body part to estimate inches and feet.

We equate 1 liter to a regular carton of milk. A regular coffee mug is 250ml. Can we quickly tell how much a gallon is when you fill up gas in the US?

1 ounce we estimate its the same as a shot glass.

When water boils we know its 100C. Farenheit is hard. At 32F its the same as zero degrees Celcius.

Spedometers on cars have both km and miles. 80 miles is about 120km.

 

[auto doctor]

This is strange.........You finish school and you want to work in a trade.. Frammer...plumber....drywall......what ever..

They are still and will always use Imperial.. a 2x4 is still a 2x4.

The pipe is still 1/2in or 3/4in.

The wire is still 14 or 12 guage.

The sheets of material are 4 feet by 8 feet.

When metric was introduced it was poorly concieved.

On top of that . We use the system from France. SI . Not the japanese metric system.


The problem that will haunt the next gerenration is the fact that both systems should be taut in the schools. I talk to kids and they do not know what a yard is..

I know that there are alot of metric equivalence out thier for new trades. But most use the old system because it is easier than metric......IMHO

 

[Goober Mcfly]

A 2x4 isn't even a 2x4. It's a 1 1/2 x 3 1/2.

Stupid imperial bastards.

 

[auto doctor]

I thought this thread was about mertic venting not the size of your woody....the before and after lenghts

Stupid communist bastards..

 

[Cardinal Fang]

A 2x4 isn't even a 2x4. It's a 1 1/2 x 3 1/2.

Stupid imperial bastards.

38 x 89 sounds better.

 

[banshie]

The only reasons to change to the metric system are international trade, and the fact that metric is easier for kids to learn. There is no motivation for adults, who already understand imperial measures, to change unless trade is involved. Why would I bother to convert to metric height and weight measurements?

Most of us do use metric distances and temperatures (or maybe both), because these have been imposed.