# I'm converting to the metric system **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 18, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-converting-to-the-metric-system/525450 "2010-01-18T18:40:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-converting-to-the-metric-system/525450/1 "2010-01-18T18:40:46Z")
I’m just tired of waiting for the rest of the U.S. to make the switch. I’m also tired of having to make conversions when I travel to figure out how hot it is and how far away places are, and, for that matter, I’m tired of crashing landers into Mars. I figure if a few of us really stubborn types go metric, we can slowly get the conversion process back on track. Who’s with me? I’ve already converted my speedometer to km/h and now I can drive 100 or more on the freeway without worrying about tickets. I can hardly wait to get a metric scale and see how much weight I’ve lost! ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-converting-to-the-metric-system/525450/2 "2010-01-18T19:40:16Z")
Congratulations on shovng things along a bit so that we Canadians can get closer to _finishing_ converting! You will find that almost every piece of office equipment can handle A4 paper, but it will be very hard to find. You may need to special-order it. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-converting-to-the-metric-system/525450/3 "2010-01-18T20:05:39Z")
Why didn’t you post this in the pit? Is your hatred of all things non-decimal too mile-d 😉 ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-converting-to-the-metric-system/525450/4 "2010-01-18T20:08:48Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Why didn’t you post this in the pit? Is your hatred of all things non-decimal too mile-d 😉 Bad **Tapioca**! No pudding! ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-converting-to-the-metric-system/525450/5 "2010-01-18T20:19:01Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > You will find that almost every piece of office equipment can handle A4 paper, but it will be very hard to find. You may need to special-order it. When I need US Letter paper at work, I have to pay a company to cut it for me to order. But A5, A4, A3 etc., while very clever, aren’t actually “metric” per se. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-converting-to-the-metric-system/525450/6 "2010-01-18T20:19:17Z")
I’ve said before - I see no reason for conversion for many things, and for others people already happily use both systems with relative ease. For instance, it would be problematic in nautical navigation to abandon yards, nautical miles, and knots. Also, when discussing rifle calibers every hunter knows the difference between the 7 mm Remington Magnum and the .308 Winchester. Then there is the issue of the pint vs. the half-liter. Civilized people land on only one side of this debate. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-converting-to-the-metric-system/525450/7 "2010-01-18T20:52:35Z")
I’ll switch to metric when they pry my SAE tape measure out of my cold dead hands. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-converting-to-the-metric-system/525450/8 "2010-01-18T21:08:30Z")
Mr. Moto, you cut me to the quick. I deal with both systems with greater ease than most of the people I know, but it is still a great burden, as completely unnecessary and made-up burdens go. Do you know how many different possible units for heat transfer coefficient there are? Each detail of these things is a potential source of error, and the time I spend trying to make sure they are all correct and looking for a way to check them is time I can’t spend creating something new and useful. Besides, some of the folks I work with give up before they try calculating something, just because there are so many details to keep in line for this one task. Moreover, there are thousands of different parts that you have to stock or order in both systems, and at least hundreds of other parts whose only job is to adapt from one system to the other. Every single machine I’m involved with has either a jagged metaphorical line gerrymandered through its soul, separating the SI from the English parts, or else has some ugly compromise somewhere so we can exclude either SI or English parts. And, finally, most of the world is at odds with most of the hardware stores I can shop in. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-converting-to-the-metric-system/525450/9 "2010-01-18T21:10:43Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > Then there is the issue of the pint vs. the half-liter. Civilized people land on only one side of this debate. English or American pint? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-converting-to-the-metric-system/525450/10 "2010-01-18T21:17:40Z")
Imperial pint, of course. And we know what can happen when beer starts getting sold in half-liters: > [@](#): > > There was a shout of laughter, and the uneasiness caused by Winston’s entry seemed to disappear. The old man’s white-stubbled face had flushed pink. He turned away, muttering to himself, and bumped into Winston. Winston caught him gently by the arm. > > ‘May I offer you a drink?’ he said. > > ‘You’re a gent,’ said the other, straightening his shoulders again. He appeared not to have noticed Winston’s blue overalls. ‘Pint!’ he added aggressively to the barman. ‘Pint of wallop.’ > > The barman swished two half-litres of dark-brown beer into thick glasses which he had rinsed in a bucket under the counter. Beer was the only drink you could get in prole pubs. The proles were supposed not to drink gin, though in practice they could get hold of it easily enough. The game of darts was in full swing again, and the knot of men at the bar had begun talking about lottery tickets. Winston’s presence was forgotten for a moment. There was a deal table under the window where he and the old man could talk without fear of being overheard. It was horribly dangerous, but at any rate there was no telescreen in the room, a point he had made sure of as soon as he came in. > > ''E could ‘a drawed me off a pint,’ grumbled the old man as he settled down behind a glass. 'A 'alf litre ain’t enough. It don’t satisfy. And a ‘ole litre’s too much. It starts my bladder running. Let alone the price.’ George Orwell. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-converting-to-the-metric-system/525450/11 "2010-01-18T21:36:35Z")
Actually, I’m not looking for a debate on if converting to metric is a good idea. I’m looking for help pushing it through. My theory is that 90% of the problem is laziness.\* I’ve just made a point of setting all my devices that are settable into metric, and I throw metric stats into my conversations. My co-workers are all techno-nerds anyway, so it’s a nice way to tweak them. I also need help with the newsletter – or possibly the news-A4. - 5% is fear of gloabalization and 5% is the mistaken idea that we’ll have to recalibrate beer, bullets, and football fields. ---
**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:** [January 18, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-converting-to-the-metric-system/525450/12 "2010-01-18T21:46:25Z")
In my lifetime, I’ve had to convert from Imperial to metric, then from metric to US customary. I’d rather use metric any time. And in New South Wales they still have pint glasses, except that they are 570 ml, i.e., a small fraction larger than an imperial pint, so the prole in _1984_ would have been happy. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-converting-to-the-metric-system/525450/13 "2010-01-18T22:52:42Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > Actually, I’m not looking for a debate on if converting to metric is a good idea. I’m looking for help pushing it through… Ditto. I keep thinking being reasonable with folks will help. Or maybe we could require them to use heat transfer coefficients. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-converting-to-the-metric-system/525450/14 "2010-01-18T22:58:44Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Congratulations on shovng things along a bit so that we Canadians can get closer to _finishing_ converting! > \ Oh God. I’m designing yards in metric (because I have zero interest in trying to figure out what five sevenths of a half inch is when I can just move a decimal place), and they’ll be built in imperial. Bleah. I’m not sure if I’m proud of Canadians having a foot firmly in both worlds or ashamed of us. 😕 So, yay, OP! You go! ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-converting-to-the-metric-system/525450/15 "2010-01-18T23:07:16Z")
I keep thinking that metric is a solution to a problem that really doesn’t exist anymore. converting inches to miles is a trivial exercise in this age of automated computation. Yes, there are some advantages to a strict powers-of-ten model - but there are some disadvantages as well. It just seems that the converting is not as big a priority as it once was. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-converting-to-the-metric-system/525450/16 "2010-01-18T23:18:32Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > You will find that almost every piece of office equipment can handle A4 paper, but it will be very hard to find. You may need to special-order it. The children’s section of IKEA has bundled sheets of A4. Seriously; it’s sold as drawing paper. Thing is, like the metric system, IKEA stores aren’t very widespread in the US compared to other Western countries. Shit, Winnipeg is getting an Ikea, but Ingvar essentially said “fœck yøu” to Kansas City, St. Louis, Cleveland and Buffalo/Rochester. That’s one for the Pit, though. (Yes, pedants, I know the œ ligature and ø aren’t part of the Swedish alphabet.) ---
**Author:** ![pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9e5f3/32.png) [@pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pretend_my_name_is_witty)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-converting-to-the-metric-system/525450/17 "2010-01-19T07:03:41Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > I keep thinking that metric is a solution to a problem that really doesn’t exist anymore. converting inches to miles is a trivial exercise in this age of automated computation. Yes, there are some advantages to a strict powers-of-ten model - but there are some disadvantages as well. > > It just seems that the converting is not as big a priority as it once was. Just because something’s possible on a computer, doesn’t mean it’s as good as making the underlying system easier to use. For anyone that performs a lot of calculations (namely, Engineers), the process certainly isn’t automated when performing hand calculations. If I’m looking at Imperial Units, I convert them to metric first because I _know all the conversions between relevant metric-metric_ units in my head, and can perform them so. Sure, I can look up (or if I had to, learn) how many cubic inches are in a metric furlong and suchlike, but the process to convert them wouldn’t be automated. I’d have to do it on a calculator. It’d take time, and introduce another place for errors to creep in. I’m sorry, but for your average guy working out how many yards are in so many miles for whatever reason, the type it into google method might produce a ‘quick’ solution, but it just doesn’t make sense for anyone that needs accuracy and efficiency. Not so much a trivial exercise, but an unnecessary and inefficient one. I can’t see any disadvantages to the ‘power-of-ten’ model other than it might stop kids learning their 12, and other awkward number times tables. But then I grew up with Metric and my multiplication in my head and ‘fag-packet’ (US dopers, if you think that’s rude, it’s not) calculation is on par with the old-school Engineers. The only real ‘disadvantage’ that I can see, is that people will have to get used to something else. And people are stubborn. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-converting-to-the-metric-system/525450/18 "2010-01-19T07:51:15Z")
> [@pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](#): > > Just because something’s possible on a computer, doesn’t mean it’s as good as making the underlying system easier to use. > > For anyone that performs a lot of calculations (namely, Engineers), the process certainly isn’t automated when performing hand calculations. If I’m looking at Imperial Units, I convert them to metric first because I _know all the conversions between relevant metric-metric_ units in my head, and can perform them so. Sure, I can look up (or if I had to, learn) how many cubic inches are in a metric furlong and suchlike, but the process to convert them wouldn’t be automated. I’d have to do it on a calculator. It’d take time, and introduce another place for errors to creep in. > > I’m sorry, but for your average guy working out how many yards are in so many miles for whatever reason, the type it into google method might produce a ‘quick’ solution, but it just doesn’t make sense for anyone that needs accuracy and efficiency. Not so much a trivial exercise, but an unnecessary and inefficient one. > > I can’t see any disadvantages to the ‘power-of-ten’ model other than it might stop kids learning their 12, and other awkward number times tables. But then I grew up with Metric and my multiplication in my head and ‘fag-packet’ (US dopers, if you think that’s rude, it’s not) calculation is on par with the old-school Engineers. > > The only real ‘disadvantage’ that I can see, is that people will have to get used to something else. And people are stubborn. Heh…well I can remember having to learn my 17 and 35 times tables, as well as my 52 and 19s …that was fun. But yes, you are right, a base 10 system is natural and computationally better than otheer systems… ---
**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:** [January 19, 2010, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-converting-to-the-metric-system/525450/19 "2010-01-19T09:02:50Z")
> [@pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](#): > > Just because something’s possible on a computer, doesn’t mean it’s as good as making the underlying system easier to use. Also, as a system, the handling of non-metric measures is further separated from the ‘natural’ arithmetic operations of a computer. Sure, integer and floating point operations represent a departure from binary too, but non-metric systems use integer and floating point maths, then add extra layers of complexity. Not sure if that makes a great deal of difference in practical everyday terms, but to my mind, simpler is better, and less likely to fail - with this sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-converting-to-the-metric-system/525450/20 "2010-01-19T17:46:59Z")
OK, I just opened my conversion package and counted 112 different versions of heat transfer coefficient. That’s one hundred and twelve different things that in SI would just be watts per square meter kelvin. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-converting-to-the-metric-system/525450.md?page=2)