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The three countries that don't use the metric system

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HAL9000 said:
Wow really?! I just assumed it was used in maths heavy environments....?
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Construction is a mix of imperial, and decimal feet. I can deal with decimal feet, but it isn't accurate enough. The smallest measurement(on a ruler) is .01', roughly 1/8". Not accurate enough.
 
KentState said:
How do you figure we don't use the metric system? I can go out to my socket set and find plenty of metric pieces. The last time I wrenched on my Corvette, it used either 11mm or 7mm sockets. It might not be a standard across everything, but it is used here. It is also harder to change something like a measurement system for a country with 300 million people and such a large land mass. Guess when you live on an island, you don't understand the enormity of things.
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I agree with this. It's not like there's 2 million people in our country or something. The amount of infrastructure we'd have to change (signs, speedometers on things like buses/trollies/trains) along with re-educating people all over again would take forever. Maybe if they actually taught the generation entering school now the metric system AND imperial....and then the generation after just metric it'd work, but it'd probably be like a 60 year change over
 
Matt915 said:
I agree with this. It's not like there's 2 million people in our country or something. The amount of infrastructure we'd have to change (signs, speedometers on things like buses/trollies/trains) along with re-educating people all over again would take forever. Maybe if they actually taught the generation entering school now the metric system AND imperial....and then the generation after just metric it'd work, but it'd probably be like a 60 year change over
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Just out of curiosity are you from America? If so are you saying you think "there's like 2 million people" in the country?!
 
lxskllr said:
Construction is a mix of imperial, and decimal feet. I can deal with decimal feet, but it isn't accurate enough. The smallest measurement(on a ruler) is .01', roughly 1/8". Not accurate enough.
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1/8" is plenty accurate for construction
 
lxskllr said:
I mentioned that above. The math can't even be made to work because of the fucked up measurements. Architectural drawings are the worst.
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Thats awful.

Not going to lie, when I worked in construction, I used imperial for the ease of calling out numbers when laying out walls and such. My tape always had metric and imperial.
 
lxskllr said:
Not when it's your job to add up the dimensions, and make things right for the item to be installed. Especially when your dealing with lots of steel.
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OK, you're right. I should not have assumed. It was plenty accurate for my job when I worked in the field. Metric would be so much easier for you to use. 😛
 
HAL9000 said:
Just out of curiosity are you from America? If so are you saying you think "there's like 2 million people" in the country?!
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No No, I'm saying we have almost 400 million people over here, it'd be a huge task to change over. In China in the 1920s how many people actually used imperial or metric?? We have a country of 400 million where eeeeveryone uses imperial.
 
DaTT said:
OK, you're right. I should not have assumed. It was plenty accurate for my job when I worked in the field. Metric would be so much easier for you to use. 😛
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1/8" is ok for most final installation accuracy, but small errors can add up quickly when you have to do math on multiple dimensions, and get it all to work together. I like the math to be perfect when starting out. That way you know where you stand. If the math is wrong in the first, and then you throw construction errors on top of that, things can get bad very quickly.
 
Matt915 said:
No No, I'm saying we have almost 400 million people over here, it'd be a huge task to change over. In China in the 1920s how many people actually used imperial or metric?? We have a country of 400 million where eeeeveryone uses imperial.
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Ahh OK.
 
Mr. Pedantic said:
I find it hard to understand how anyone, at any point in history, at any time in their lives, could find it better to use the Imperial system rather than the metric system. The reason we count in base 10 is because we have 10 fingers. So why not have a measurement system that measures increments in powers of 10? We do not count in base 12, 3, 1760, 20, 8, 16, and 14 all at once. In case you were wondering:

12 inches in a foot
3 feet in a yard
1760 yards in a mile
20 fl. ounce in a pint
8 pints to a gallon
16 ounces to a pound
14 pounds to a stone
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I know you're just making a point, but I can't believe no one has pointed out yet (and you've even been quoted) that there are 16 fluid ounces in a pint. The 20 ounce thing is a UK thing. They stick an extra unnecessary letter in words like "colour," and they stick an extra 4 ounces in a pint. Actually, it's a good thing, if you go down to the pub and order a pint. 🙂
 
DrPizza said:
I know you're just making a point, but I can't believe no one has pointed out yet (and you've even been quoted) that there are 16 fluid ounces in a pint. The 20 ounce thing is a UK thing. They stick an extra unnecessary letter in words like "colour," and they stick an extra 4 ounces in a pint. Actually, it's a good thing, if you go down to the pub and order a pint. 🙂
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Colour is a french word, it wasn't us.
 
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