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Message no. 1
From: Damion Milliken <u9467882@******.UOW.EDU.AU>
Subject: Americans and why they are Backwards
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 1994 20:47:45 +0000
Ivy writes:

>> Don't know why they don't use SI units ;)

>Tradition

Well, I though it was because of the prohibitive cost of changing. It would
require getting rid of all those antiquated imperial units and replacing them
with modern, understandable, logical SI units. This would not be cheap, it
wouldn't just be as simple as changing the labels on products. Think about it.
Changing everything that uses, is based on, releted to, made by/from etc the
old units into the new units would be one hellava task. Money is a big hill
that cannot be easily overcome.

--
Damion Milliken University of Wollongong E-Mail: u9467882@******.uow.edu.au

(Geek Code 2.1) GE d@ H s++:-- !g p? !au a18 w+ v C+ U P? !L !3 E? N K- W+ M
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f+@ !r n--(----)@ !y+
Message no. 2
From: Stainless Steel Rat <ratinox@***.NEU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Americans and why they are Backwards
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 1994 09:35:24 -0400
>>>>> "Damion" == Damion Milliken
<u9467882@******.UOW.EDU.AU> writes:

>>> Don't know why they don't use SI units ;)
>> Tradition
Damion> Well, I though it was because of the prohibitive cost of changing.

Nope; neither are right. Betcha didn't know that the US, according to a law
passed in Congress a while back, officially uses SI measurements; Imperial
units are used as a convenience for the people who can't be bothered with
learning something new.

--
Rat <ratinox@***.neu.edu> |"Wotcha doin' over there, Brain?"
http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/ratinox|"Contemplating your afterlife, Pinky."
PGP Public Key: Ask for one today! |--Pinky and the Brain
Message no. 3
From: Gian-Paolo Musumeci <musumeci@***.LIS.UIUC.EDU>
Subject: Re: Americans and why they are Backwards
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 1994 10:02:33 -0500
You can still find highway signs that say "100km to Chicago" -- *grin*

"The US will be metric by 1988." ;-) Congress declared that once...;-)
Message no. 4
From: Joseph Cotton <Joseph.Cotton@*******.OIT.UNC.EDU>
Subject: Re: Americans and why they are Backwards
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 1994 15:52:07 EDT
On Tue, 2 Aug 1994, Gian-Paolo Musumeci wrote:

> You can still find highway signs that say "100km to Chicago" -- *grin*
> "The US will be metric by 1988." ;-) Congress declared that once...;-)

Well, this time they declared the metric system the standard (as of
1 Oct 1993). Trouble is, us lazy yanks get all horrified at the thought
of walking around trying to convert SI units to imperial ones in our
heads all the time. Most don't think about the fact that if SI units
are the only ones they're using, there's no need to convert. But
there's still the problem with getting used to how much a [unit] is -
if you tell me a gallon of gas at the Stop-and-Go is $1.10, I know
that's a okay price. If you tell me it's $0.29 a liter, I gotta think
about for a bit. If you say it's 20 (Farenheit), I grab my coat. If
you say it's 20 (Celsius), I gotta think about it a bit. But that's
just a case of gaining experience with the system. It's that first
big learning curve everyone's afraid of (IMHO).

Joe Cotton
Joseph.Cotton@*********.unc.edu
Message no. 5
From: A cohort's CoHort <cohort@*********.COM>
Subject: Re: Americans and why they are Backwards
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 1994 14:09:05 -0700
On Tue, 2 Aug 1994, Joseph Cotton wrote:

> On Tue, 2 Aug 1994, Gian-Paolo Musumeci wrote:
>
> > You can still find highway signs that say "100km to Chicago" -- *grin*
> > "The US will be metric by 1988." ;-) Congress declared that
once...;-)
>
> Well, this time they declared the metric system the standard (as of
> 1 Oct 1993).
Again? They tried this before, way back in the early 1800s... I don't
recall the exact date anymore, but... Remember, in a town here in
Washington State, it's still illegal to hold a Rollerskating party
without a female chaperone over the age of 21 present... And, somewhere
in the midwest, it's still illegal to allow your horse to sleep in your
bathtub.

cohort@******.connected.com
-----=====-----
Bradley's Bromide: If computers get too powerful, we can
organize them into a committee -- that will do them in.
Message no. 6
From: Gian-Paolo Musumeci <musumeci@***.LIS.UIUC.EDU>
Subject: Re: Americans and why they are Backwards
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 1994 16:48:47 -0500
> in a town here in Washington State, it's still illegal to hold a
> Rollerskating party without a female chaperone over the age of 21 present...

Cooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool. =)

> And, somewhere in the midwest, it's still illegal to allow your horse to
> sleep in your bathtub.

Yeah, in the state of IL, oral sex is illegal. Unless they finally fixed that
one.
Message no. 7
From: "Robert A. Hayden" <hayden@******.MANKATO.MSUS.EDU>
Subject: Re: Americans and why they are Backwards
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 1994 18:47:06 +0100
On Tue, 2 Aug 1994, Gian-Paolo Musumeci wrote:

> Yeah, in the state of IL, oral sex is illegal. Unless they finally fixed that
> one.

Sodomy laws of different types are still on the books in about half the
states.

____ Robert A. Hayden <=> hayden@******.mankato.msus.edu
\ /__ -=-=-=-=- <=> -=-=-=-=-
\/ / Finger for Geek Code Info <=> I do not necessarily speak for the
\/ Finger for PGP Public Key <=> City of Mankato or anyone else, dammit
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
(GEEK CODE 2.1) GJ/CM d- H-- s-:++>s-:+ g+ p? au+ a- w++ v* C++(++++) UL++++$
P+>++ L++$ 3- E---- N+++ K+++ W M+ V-- -po+(---)>$ Y++ t+ 5+++
j R+++$ G- tv+ b+ D+ B--- e+>++(*) u** h* f r-->+++ !n y++**
Message no. 8
From: Adam Getchell <acgetche@****.UCDAVIS.EDU>
Subject: Re: Americans and why they are Backwards
Date: Tue, 2 Aug 1994 18:09:53 -0700
That's okay.
I still believe that it's illegal to go fishing for whales in
Colorado, and I think that Pakistanis are barred from playing poker on
Tuesdays in Utah. Also, last time I was in Virginia it was illegal to
carry a gun, but you could have one in your glove compartment of your car.
These seemingly odd legal citations _do_ have rationales, if you
look at history. For example, the Virginia law holds because a glove
compartment is legally equated with a saddle-bag, and in old times that's
where people carried their guns. Also, in some Utah communities (I
think) at the turn of the century, Pakistanis would gather around town
square on Tuesdays to play cards, which happened to disrupt business and
meetings and ...
(I have no idea how the whales' law came into effect, but there
you go.)

+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|Adam Getchell|acgetche@****.engr.ucdavis.edu | ez000270@*******.ucdavis.edu |
| acgetchell |"Invincibility is in oneself, vulnerability is in the opponent"|
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
Message no. 9
From: Damion Milliken <u9467882@******.UOW.EDU.AU>
Subject: Re: Americans and why they are Backwards
Date: Wed, 3 Aug 1994 13:31:36 +0000
Rat writes:

> >>> Don't know why they don't use SI units ;)
> >> Tradition
> Damion> Well, I though it was because of the prohibitive cost of changing.
>
> Nope; neither are right. Betcha didn't know that the US, according to a law
> passed in Congress a while back, officially uses SI measurements; Imperial
> units are used as a convenience for the people who can't be bothered with
> learning something new.

So everything you now buy is measured in SI units?
Petrol is sold by the Litre (sp? - heh, I'm not too good at 'em myself :-))?
You buy tools measured in mm or cm rather than in?
Speed is measured in km/h?

Is it law that these things must happen, or is it just a situation of "choose
what you like"?

But yeah, as someone else said, laziness is probably the real reason behind it
:-)

--
Damion Milliken University of Wollongong E-Mail: u9467882@******.uow.edu.au

(Geek Code 2.1) GE d@ H s++:-- !g p? !au a18 w+ v C+ U P? !L !3 E? N K- W+ M
!V po@ Y t(+) !5 !j r+(++) G(+) !tv(--) b++ D+ B? e+ u@ h+(*)
f+@ !r n--(----)@ !y+
Message no. 10
From: Stainless Steel Rat <ratinox@***.NEU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Americans and why they are Backwards
Date: Wed, 3 Aug 1994 10:20:09 -0400
>>>>> "Damion" == Damion Milliken
<u9467882@******.UOW.EDU.AU> writes:

Damion> Rat writes:
>> Nope; neither are right. Betcha didn't know that the US, according to a
>> law passed in Congress a while back, officially uses SI measurements;
>> Imperial units are used as a convenience for the people who can't be
>> bothered with learning something new.

Damion> So everything you now buy is measured in SI units?

Yup. Go somewhere in the US: almost everything (roadsigns are an exception,
and that's changing) is marked in SI, followed by Imperials. Auto parts,
one of the biggest Imperial holdovers, are now manufactured in SI sizes.

[...]

Damion> Is it law that these things must happen, or is it just a situation
Damion> of "choose what you like"?

It's a law; it was passed within the last couple of years.

--
Rat <ratinox@***.neu.edu> |'user' is truely a four-letter word, even
http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/ratinox|in UNIX: /usr
PGP Public Key: Ask for one today! |
Message no. 11
From: Damion Milliken <u9467882@******.UOW.EDU.AU>
Subject: Re: Americans and why they are Backwards
Date: Thu, 4 Aug 1994 12:55:42 +0000
Rat writes:

> Damion> So everything you now buy is measured in SI units?
>
> Yup. Go somewhere in the US: almost everything (roadsigns are an exception,
> and that's changing) is marked in SI, followed by Imperials. Auto parts,
> one of the biggest Imperial holdovers, are now manufactured in SI sizes.
>
> It's a law; it was passed within the last couple of years.

Well well well, three holes in the ground. You learn something new every day
(Especially on this list :-)).

--
Damion Milliken University of Wollongong E-Mail: u9467882@******.uow.edu.au

(Geek Code 2.1) GE d@ H s++:-- !g p? !au a18 w+ v C+ U P? !L !3 E? N K- W+ M
!V po@ Y t(+) !5 !j r+(++) G(+) !tv(--) b++ D+ B? e+ u@ h+(*)
f+@ !r n--(----)@ !y+

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