Re: misc.metric-system

"JD" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> "Pat Norton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > JD wrote:
> > >We don't want it. We don't need it. We can't afford it.
> >
> > Define 'we'.
> >
> > This is an international newsgroup. The proposed newsgroup is
> > international. If you are the worldwide representative for all
> > scientists, automobile manufacturers, or urban planners, please
> > specify.
> 
> Take it however you want. The OP said the purpose of his new group is to
> install metric where it does not now exist. So, I say "we" for all who live
> and work with imperial units.
> 
> The U.S. has done just fine for over 200 years. A while back, some fools
> decided we should change. So, some companies, most notably gas stations,
> started changing over. In the end, it was a waste of time and money. I
> haven't seen a gas pump with the litre conversion in a very long time.
> 
> As for "WE", I speak for everyone I've ever worked with. WE have no need to
> convert. WE don't want to convert. WE are fine with feet and inches.
> 
> All you have to do is follow the money. Who is really going to push for such
> nonsense? Every copier, fax, etc will have to be replaced or modified.
> Odometer, speedometer, textbooks. Everything.

Don't forget replacing all those 14 oz hammers with 400 g hammers.

You get some really wild cost estimates, as long as someone thinks
they can get Uncle Sam to pay for it.

Of course, you also overlook the benefits in calculating those costs.

Every printer and every copier I've ever had will handle A4 paper with
no modification.  Talking about paper, it was pretty damn stupid not
to swetch to the worldwide standard when the U.S. government changed
its standard paper size in the late 1970s, at considerable expense in
the form of new desks and the like, because the old ones designed or 8
inch by 10.5 inch paper wouldn't hold 8.5 inch by 11 inch.

Gene Nygaard