Why is the U.S. still not using the metric system?

[Arakhor]

I know that's 25 miles, but I have no concept of it as a spatial unit, merely as how long it will take to drive it.

 

[bestrfcplayer]

It's America dude.

 

[civ_king]

My father, an architect, would love to convert to metric because of finer numbers (1mm vs 1 eighth of an inch)

 

[woody60707]

I'm just glad we all agree Celsius is dumb.

 

[Disgustipated]

agreed. When it gets to 44.444444444444 Celcius here, that doesn't sound very hot compared to 112F.

 

[onedreamer]

Nope. If you want to buy an FA-18 or an M1A1 Abrams, you need all the Imperial tools, accessories, and related training to work on it.

When I say "the rest of the world doesn't really care if anglosaxons use the imperial system" I am of course excluding incredibly small minorities like that of those who would want to buy or use a FA-18 in favor of the wide range of people that a concept like "rest of the world" suggests.

 

[onedreamer]

agreed. When it gets to 44.444444444444 Celcius here, that doesn't sound very hot compared to 112F.

A temperature of zero grades as separator between "so cold that water freezes" and not as cold sounds certainly easier to understand than a temperature of 32 grades, just like a temperature of 100 grades being so hot that water boils.

You only reason in terms of how you are used to think instead of how it is objectively better to think. In order to do it you should have to forget what you're used to and think as if you are a newborn child.

We (the human race) adopted the decimal system to count I suppose because it is the most convenient to use for the human brain. We don't think in binary or hexadecimal. There are many leftovers we inherited from the past, which have been gradually abandoned in favor of easier, decimal systems. One leftover that is still there to create problems is the measure of time.
"Hey Onedreamer, the system says you worked 3.44 hours more this week", and then you have to mentally convert this notation in order to understand what the heck it means. How many minutes are 0.44 hours? You would not know it instantly. If the time system was decimal you would not need any conversion to understand the meaning.

The anglosaxon world is trying to self-convince itself that a sytem of measures that isn't decimal based isn't worse and less immediate do understand and use than one that is decimal. When someone is so stubborn to defend this position what can you answer? Meh. Keep your imperial system as long as you wish... pointless discussion

 

[Leoreth]

I'm just glad we all agree Celsius is dumb.

Really?

We'd like to create a temperature scale. Question: How to choose the zero point?

Fahrenheit: I'll create the coldest liquid I can produce and call it zero, without theoretically or practically verifying that there's no colder temperature.
Celsius: I'll take the freezing point of the most ubiquitous liquid in the world as my zero point.

 

[Tee Kay]

Really?

We'd like to create a temperature scale. Question: How to choose the zero point?

Fahrenheit: I'll create the coldest liquid I can produce and call it zero, without theoretically or practically verifying that there's no colder temperature.
Celsius: I'll take the freezing point of the most ubiquitous liquid in the world as my zero point.

You must take Celcius away from my cold dead hands!

 

[bhsup]

We'd like to create a temperature scale. Question: How to choose the zero point?

0 to 100 - It's bloody cold to it's bloody hot.

Not 0 to 100 - Eh, it's almost jacket weather to OMG MY SKIN IS SMOKING AND PEELING OFF MY BODY.

Really, who cares what the freezing and boiling point of water is. Why not the freezing and boiling point of mercury or nitrogen or <insert some other meaningless element>.

 

[classical_hero]

Because water is such a valuable thing and common thing that we can get a good reading of the level between the most common things and have a standard reference point to go to rather than something that in ambiguous, like Fahrenheit.

 

[Formaldehyde]

When I say "the rest of the world doesn't really care if anglosaxons use the imperial system" I am of course excluding incredibly small minorities like that of those who would want to buy or use a FA-18 in favor of the wide range of people that a concept like "rest of the world" suggests.

I guess it must have escaped your attention that many countries buy US arms.

U.S. arms sales could hit $50 billion next year

 

[warpus]

Hehe, thanks for the correction. The point was that its not really all that hard to convert either way to be honest, so its really not that big an argument.

That's because you apparently didn't even read what I wrote. I was talking about conversions between the various imperial units vs conversions between the various metric units, not conversion between metric and imperial itself.

 

[Patroklos]

Seriously, I'm becoming more and more embarrassed by my country. Yes I know, people will tell me to leave. But our country as a whole is being left behind in technological progress. Are Americans just too stupid to use the metric system? I can't believe that because it's actually easier than Imperial (or customary) units. How can our American kids keep up with the rest of the world with this archaic measuring system?

I'm sure you guys have had this kind of thread here before, but I still can't believe we are using this in 2011. You think Obama of all presidents would change this over. Yes I know there is a recession. But think of the possibilities of putting unemployed people to work changing all the road signs. I remember when I was a kid in the 80's I figured it was only a matter of time before they change it over, but it hasn't happened yet. Why?

The rest of the world must think we are horribly backwards.

Seeing as we grew to be the most technologically savy nation in the history of mankind and still are the leaders in pretty much every technology you wish to mention or at the very least peer competitors, all done and maintained without the metric system for normal daily use, what exactly are you on about? When it make sense we use it, where it doesn't matter we don't.

 

[onedreamer]

I guess it must have escaped your attention that many countries buy US arms.

U.S. arms sales could hit $50 billion next year

I can't believe you want to continue in this debacle of supporting this argument.
Ok, let's talk raw, decimal numbers. Current population on Earth about 6 billions. How many of these need to know the imperial system because they are to pilot a FA-whatever or a kissmyass-weapon made in USA?

 

[Formaldehyde]

I can't believe you want to continue in this debacle of supporting this argument.

Using obvious facts to support my opinions is a "debacle"?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_F/A-18_Hornet

Spoiler :

[edit] Australia

The Royal Australian Air Force purchased 57 F/A-18A fighters and 18 F/A-18B two-seat trainers to replace its Dassault Mirage IIIOs.[27][28] Three options were considered for the replacement: the F-15A Eagle, the F-16 Falcon, and the then new F/A-18 Hornet. The F-15 was discounted because the version offered did not have ground-attack capability. The F-16 was considered unsuitable largely due to it having only one engine.[29] Australia selected the F/A-18 in October 1981.[28] Original differences between the Australian and US Navy's standard F/A-18 were the removal of nose wheel tie bar for catapult launch (later re-fitted with a dummy version to remove nose wheel shimmy), addition of a high frequency radio, an Australian fatigue data analysis system, an improved video and voice recorder, and the use of ILS/VOR (Instrument Landing System/Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range) instead of the carrier landing system.[29]

The first two aircraft were produced in the US, with the remainder assembled in Australia at Government Aircraft Factories. F/A-18 deliveries to the RAAF began on 29 October 1984, and continued until May 1990.[28] In 2001, Australia deployed four aircraft to Diego Garcia, in an air defense role, during coalition operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan. In 2003, 75 Squadron deployed 14 F/A-18s to Qatar as part of Operation Falconer and these aircraft saw action during the invasion of Iraq.[30] Australia had 71 Hornets in service in 2006, after four were lost to crashes.[27]

The fleet was upgraded beginning in the late 1990s to extend their service lives to 2015.[31] They were expected to be retired then and replaced by the F-35 Lightning II.[32][33] A number of the Australian Hornets have had refits applied to extend their service lives until the planned retirement date of 2020.[34] In addition to the F/A-18A and F/A-18B Hornets, Australia has purchased 24 F/A-18F Super Hornets, with deliveries beginning in 2009.

[edit] Canada

Canada was the first export customer for the Hornet, replacing the CF-104 Starfighter (air reconnaissance & strike), the CF-101 Voodoo (air interception) and the CF-116 Freedom Fighter (ground attack). The Canadian Forces Air Command ordered 98 A-models (Canadian designation CF-188A/CF-18A) and 40 B models (designation CF-188B/CF-18B).

In 1991, Canada committed 26 CF-18s to the Gulf War, based in Qatar. In June 1999 18 CF-18s were deployed to Aviano AB, Italy, where they participated in both the air-to-ground and air-to-air roles in the former Yugoslavia.

62 CF-18A and 18 CF-18B aircraft took part in the Incremental Modernization Project which was completed in two phases. The program was launched in 2001 and the last updated aircraft was delivered in March 2010. The aims were to improve air-to-air and air-to-ground combat capabilities, upgrade sensors and the defensive suite, and replace the datalinks and communications systems on board the CF-18 from the F/A-18A and F/A-18B standard to the current F/A-18C and D standard.[35][36]

In July 2010 the Canadian government announced plans to replace the remaining CF-18 fleet with 65 F-35 Lightning IIs, with deliveries scheduled to start in 2016.[37]

[edit] Finland

Finnish Air Force (Suomen Ilmavoimat) ordered 64 F-18C/Ds (48 C models, 24 D models) with delivery started on 7 June 1995. The Hornet replaced the MiG-21bis and Saab 35 Draken in Finnish service. One fighter was destroyed in a mid-air collision in 2001.[12] A damaged F-18C was rebuilt into a F-18D; in order to do so, a forward section of a Canadian CF-18B was purchased and incorporated.[38] The modified fighter crashed during a test flight in January 2010.[39] The cause of the crash has not been determined.[40]

The Finnish F-18C includes the ASPJ (Airborne-Self-Protection-Jammer) jamming pod ALQ-165 that was canceled on original US Navy orders. The US Navy later included the ALQ-165 on their Super Hornet (F-18E/F) procurement. The Finnish Hornets were initially to be used only for air defense, hence the designation F-18.

Finland is upgrading its fleet of F-18s with new avionics, including helmet mounted sights (HMS), new cockpit displays, sensors and standard NATO data link. A number of the 63 Hornets remaining are going to be fitted to carry air-to-ground ordnance such as the AGM-154C JSOW, in effect returning to the original F/A-18 multi-role configuration. The upgrade includes also the procurement and integration of new AIM-9X Sidewinder and AIM-120C-7 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles. This Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) is estimated to cost between &#8364;1-1.6 billion and work is scheduled to be finished by 2015. After the upgrades the aircraft are to remain in active service until 2020&#8211;2025.[41][42]

[edit] Kuwait

The Kuwait Air Force (Al Quwwat Aj Jawwaiya Al Kuwaitiya) ordered 32 F/A-18C and eight F/A-18D Hornets in 1988 and delivery started in October 1991.[43] The F/A-18C/Ds replaced A-4KU Skyhawk. Kuwait Air Force Hornets have flown missions over Iraq during Operation Southern Watch in the 1990s. They have also participated in military exercises with the air forces of other Gulf nations.[44] Kuwait had 39 F/A-18C/D Hornets in service in 2008.[45]

[edit] MalaysiaThe Royal Malaysian Air Force (Tentera Udara Diraja Malaysia) has eight F/A-18Ds.[46] The air force split their order between the F/A-18 and the Mikoyan MiG-29.[47]

[edit] Spain

The Spanish Air Force (Ejército del Aire) ordered 60 EF-18A model and 12 EF-18B model Hornets (the "E" standing for "España", Spain), named respectively as C.15 and CE.15 by Spanish AF.[48] Delivery of the Spanish version started on 22 November 1985.[12] These fighters were upgraded to F-18A+/B+ standard, close to F/A-18C/D (plus version includes later mission and armament computers, databuses, data-storage set, new wiring, pylon modifications and software, new capabilities as AN/AAS-38B NITE Hawk targeting FLIR pods).

In 1995 Spain obtained 24 ex-USN F/A-18A Hornets, with six more on option. These were delivered from December 1995 until December 1999. Prior to delivery, they were modified to EF-18A+ standard.[49] This was the first sale of USN surplus Hornets.

Spanish Hornets operate as an all-weather interceptor 60% of the time and as an all-weather day/night attack aircraft for the remainder. In case of war, each of the front-line squadrons would take a primary role: 121 is tasked with tactical air support and maritime operations; 151 and 122 are assigned to all-weather interception and air combat roles; and 152 is assigned the SEAD mission. Air refueling is provided by KC-130Hs and Boeing 707TTs. Pilot conversion to EF-18 is centralized in 153 Squadron (Ala 15). Squadron 462's role is air defense of the Canary Islands, being responsible for fighter and attack missions from Gando AB.

Spanish Air Force EF-18 Hornets have flown Ground Attack, SEAD, combat air patrol (CAP) combat missions in Bosnia and Kosovo, under NATO command, in Aviano detachment (Italy). They shared the base with Canadian and USMC F/A-18s. Six Spanish Hornets had been lost in accidents by 2003.[48]

Eight EF-18s, based at Aviano AB, participated in bombing raids against Yugoslavia in Operation Allied Force in 1999. They also performed air-to-air combat air patrol missions, close air support air-to-ground missions, photo reconnaissance missions, forward air controller-airborne missions, and tactical air controller-airborne missions over Bosnia.

Four Spanish Hornets participated in the enforcement of no-fly zone over Libya.

[edit] Switzerland

The Swiss Air Force purchased 26 C models and eight D models. One D model was lost in a crash.[48] Delivery of the aircraft started on 25 January 1996.[12]

In late 2007 Switzerland requested to be included in F/A-18C/D Upgrade 25 Program, in order to extend the useful life of its F/A-18C/Ds. The program includes significant upgrades to the avionics and mission computer, 20 ATFLIR surveillance and targeting pods, and 44 sets of AN/ALR-67v3 ECM equipment. In October 2008 the Swiss Hornet fleet reached the 50,000 flight hour milestone.[50]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Dynamics_F-16_Fighting_Falcon

Over 4,450 F-16s have been delivered to the U.S. and 25 other air forces.[1]

Of course, those are only two examples. There are lots more...

 

[Lone Wolf]

Onedreamer: managing to switch Formaldehyde to a "USA #1" mode

 

[Leonel]

agreed. When it gets to 44.444444444444 Celcius here, that doesn't sound very hot compared to 112F.

It's hotter than Fahrenheit's wife's armpit here!

 

[Bill3000]

Really, who cares what the freezing and boiling point of water is.

What, you don't freeze ice or boil water?

 

[MobBoss]

What, you don't freeze ice or boil water?

One doesnt need to know the precise temperature those occur at to achieve the desired result.