# Hey, world, can't we all standardize? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 30, 2017, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-world-cant-we-all-standardize/800205 "2017-10-30T03:03:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-world-cant-we-all-standardize/800205/1 "2017-10-30T03:03:23Z")
So why can’t we all just get along (at least with length and weight)? I had to redesign an old print job that was set up in picas. Which I understand, being an Olde Farte, but for God’s sake, these picas are each 0.16604 inches, but a newer Postscript pica is 0.16667 inches. Not easy to translate a job into English. Can we just appoint a Standards Maven for the entire world? I’ll volunteer (for free, if I can fine any recalcitrants and it goes in my pocket). So, no picas or furlongs, no US vs UK Gallons, or short and long tons… No more learning new scales for every usage. You don’t have to say your horse is 15 hands 2 inches tall. And you’re not 15 Stone 4 pounds, you’re overweight. Okay? Starting 31/12/2017 (see how easy that was?): Grams and liters, 4 pm is 1600, drive on the right using kph, a billion is a thousand million, degrees are always Celsius, but… I think I’ll stick with pints of beer. Sorry, Yanks and Brits, change is tough. And, Turkey? Yeah, I know it’s fun to point out that six _okras_ equals a _batman_, but from now on it’s 7.68 kg. Anyone else dealing with awkward units of measure? And why are the US and UK taking so long? I spent the '69-'70 school year learning metric, because the US of A was switching over “any day now”. Yeah, right, Mr. Schmeederman… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-world-cant-we-all-standardize/800205/2 "2017-10-30T03:07:20Z")
We do have standards mavens for the whole world, and most of the world listens to them. What’s the General Question here? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-world-cant-we-all-standardize/800205/3 "2017-10-30T03:20:35Z")
Moved to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-world-cant-we-all-standardize/800205/4 "2017-10-30T04:32:54Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Moved to IMHO. > > Colibri > General Questions Moderator Thanks – couldn’t decide between GQ and IMHO … or is it a MPSIMS? My main question is: Why can’t we adhere to standards? Anyone successfully switched personally, or seen a workplace change to more global standards? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-world-cant-we-all-standardize/800205/5 "2017-10-30T06:11:59Z")
> [@digs](#): > > …Anyone successfully switched personally…? Yes, twice to the metric system. The first time was living in Australia, when the country switched to metric in the 1970s. The second time was migrating from the U.S. to Australia 6 years ago. (I migrated from Australia to the U.S. in 1999.) I much prefer metric. One annoying thing about the U.S. is that they have two standard paper sizes, Letter (216 by 279 mm), and legal (216 by 356 mm). Question 1: why do US. lawyers have to have their own paper size? Question 2: Why can’t the U.S. just move to A4? In my last job I often had to move documents from a U.S. environment to a non-U.S. environment, and the change in paper size messes up things like pagination when you change. And you have to change: you can’t buy U.S. latter-sized paper in Australia, or A4 paper in the U.S. It’s just madness. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-world-cant-we-all-standardize/800205/6 "2017-10-30T07:49:33Z")
I still have a bunch of my father’s old credit and charge cards from the early 1960s. They are the oddest shapes. They were all for local businesses like department stores and such. So cards have been standardized since then. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-world-cant-we-all-standardize/800205/7 "2017-10-30T10:44:34Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Okay? Starting 31/12/2017 (see how easy that was?): No, there’s a [standard for writing dates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601), so it’s 2017-12-31, thank you very much. > [@](#): > > Grams and liters, 4 pm is 1600, drive on the right using kph, No, the standard way to express kilometres per hour is [km/h](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilometres_per_hour), especially outside the English-speaking world. I’ll see you in Esperanto class. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-world-cant-we-all-standardize/800205/8 "2017-10-30T13:12:18Z")
Dankon! (“Thanks” in Esperanto) Ignorance (and standards-less Midwestern upbringing) fought. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-world-cant-we-all-standardize/800205/9 "2017-10-30T14:10:16Z")
> [@digs](#): > > … No more learning new scales for every usage… > > degrees are always Celsius, but… I agree about _ **scales** _. C-major and A-minor should be enough for everyone. Not only will this restriction save on musicians’ wear-and-tear but pianos will no longer need any black keys. I cannot agree with _ **degrees Celsius** _ however, unless you stipulate _semi_-degrees. When I set the A/C thermostat to 28° my wife complains she’s too hot, but at 27° she’s too cold. :o ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-world-cant-we-all-standardize/800205/10 "2017-10-30T14:37:40Z")
Here’s some more recent typographic fun the OP might enjoy: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=839165](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=839165) And here’s the nub of all the problems: [xkcd: Standards](https://xkcd.com/927/) We’ll have standardization as soon as we get rid of all the pesky humans. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-world-cant-we-all-standardize/800205/11 "2017-10-30T15:00:40Z")
The short ton ain’t going anywhere … I put my product on the market for $2,500/ton, the Englishman puts his on the market for $2,600/ton … looks like mine is the better deal except I use short tons ($1.25/lbs) whereas the Englishman uses long tons ($1.18/lbs) … [ka’ching] … so there’s 140 reasons per ton to keep things the way they are right now … The SI standards of measure is not fully metric, we still use minutes, hours and fortnights which are not decimal … and the number of days in a month is not standard as it depends wholly on which month we’re talking about … and in some cases which year the month occurs in … yeesh … Has Europe set their clocks back to winter time yet? … the USA will do so next Sunday … countries near the equator never set their clocks forward in the first place … I’d love to visit England just for the opportunity to drive 110 mph on the right side of the Motorway … I’m an American, I’m allowed to do that !!! ---
**Author:** ![Dobbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Dobbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dobbs)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-world-cant-we-all-standardize/800205/12 "2017-10-30T15:17:22Z")
I love standards. There’s so many to choose from. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-world-cant-we-all-standardize/800205/13 "2017-10-30T15:39:56Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > Has Europe set their clocks back to winter time yet? … the USA will do so next Sunday … The UK did this past Saturday, which messes up all my meetings with folks in the UK since they all now overlap with meetings schedule in US time zones. Next week everything will line up again, except for the folks I meet with in India who don’t do DST. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-world-cant-we-all-standardize/800205/14 "2017-10-30T15:43:49Z")
[Obligatory XKCD on standards.](https://xkcd.com/927/) ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-world-cant-we-all-standardize/800205/15 "2017-10-30T15:44:50Z")
Differing systems really puts the ‘pucker’ factor in things like launching things to mars. One thing that really holds me to the imperial system is it is so human based. It’s nonsense makes total sense. It is history, it is science, together, hand in hand goodness. It is frustrating as doing a chore in a certain way just because the old man taught you that way, insisted on that, and you knew better. The zero to 100 scale of temperature was pure genius for humans, I would say wisdom beyond what created the Celsius system. The meter is just ridiculous, and what happens if we find the SoL is not a constant. If we go to a single system we need to embrace the dark side, exterminate the rebels, and go imperial. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-world-cant-we-all-standardize/800205/16 "2017-10-30T17:21:26Z")
I’ll give up my SAE wrench system when you pry it from my cold dead fingers. Cliks (kilometers) on the other hand I can live with. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-world-cant-we-all-standardize/800205/17 "2017-10-30T17:24:39Z")
Everyone agrees we should \*\*\*have \*\*\*standards - they just typically think the rest of the world should fall in line with their own. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-world-cant-we-all-standardize/800205/18 "2017-10-31T02:21:11Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > The zero to 100 scale of temperature was pure genius for humans, I would say wisdom beyond what created the Celsius system… The “zero to 100 scale of temperature” is what scale? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-world-cant-we-all-standardize/800205/19 "2017-10-31T03:03:48Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Everyone agrees we should \*\*\*have \*\*\*standards - they just typically think the rest of the world should fall in line with their own. Yeah - we should dtandardize in a way that I don’t have to change how I do things. There are two successful types of standards - one where everyone does it that way anyhow (or almost, like ASCII) and one where the subject is fairly new so no one is set to a given way of doing things. I’ve been involved in some IEEE standards - very successful - like this. Or you can impose it with a gun. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-world-cant-we-all-standardize/800205/20 "2017-10-31T03:26:27Z")
…so I was riding on a train to get somewhere – it’s pretty cool, you’ve got time to meet and talk to your fellow travelers. I was talking to a couple visiting the US from Australia, and the man tells me about his home improvement project, where he’s going to be installing a new air conditioner sized at some number of kilowatts. He pauses, then asks 'wait, do you even use watts here?" Why, yes we do… but, um, I think we would give the capacity of an air conditioning unit in British Thermal Units (however large one of those is). We would, however, use kilowatts to say how much electrical power it would draw, and we might express the power of any pump it would use in horsepower. That’s understandable, isn’t it? No? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-world-cant-we-all-standardize/800205.md?page=2)