I would have to say that companies will do it in order to meet a standard
and be done with.  Then they get to say "We're ISO XyZ123 certified" =)

But the general public is not a company and there is no boss to say "if
you don't use metric you're fired" =)

Here in the US, when you go to chemistry or physics class (and maybe even
biology), they teach you to use the metric system because the books use
it, but then you leave school and never use it again unless you happen to
work with it.

It is plain laziness if you ask me.  People say "I know what a mile is but
I have no idea of what a kilometer is."  That's no excuse, since you're
driving and the odometer tells you how far you have gone.  As far as that
aspect of it is concerned, it is just all numbers.  Do you actually care
about the quantity of milk in the bottle when you go to the store?  Do you
actually ask yourself how many quarts of milk you're going to drink  this
week or how many milliliters of soda you'll need for a party?  NO!  You
just walk up to the shelf and pick up the big bottle or the smaller one,
or a few of each.

Therefore, my conclusion is that it is plain simple laziness.  The same
thing that's getting the Americans bigger and fatter every year (including
myself) =)


-Mario

> Timothy J. Weber wrote:
>
>>> Why people in the States still use those antique units is beyond me.
>>
>> I chalk it up to insular nationalism, laziness, and "Not Invented Here."
>> Anyone imposing a change at the Federal level would meet resistance
>> back home.
>
> Ok, I understand the thing with the Feds, and that's one of the parts that
> I think most others have something to learn from the US: a certain
> resistance against centralization is a good thing. But laziness? It's so
> much more effort to work with the different measurement units...
>
>> I was in grade school in the brief span of years when the U.S. flirted
>> with metric, so my cohort knows what a centimeter is.  But I think few
>> people older or younger do, other than scientists/engineers [...]
>
> And that's exactly where the question sits. I believe that all scientists
> in the US work with SI units, just like everywhere else. It's just too
> cumbersome otherwise. But the engineers and technicians seem to think it's
> fun to convert all day long between different units, send Mars rovers off
> track, have two sets of tools and measurement equipment... I'm lazy, too,
> and that's why I don't understand this :)
>
> I'm participating in the mechanic design of a unit for the automotive
> aftermarket. For what I understand, the US automotive industry uses metric
> threads, nuts and bolts for quite some time now; only the older cars still
> use other threads. So it would make sense to make this unit also all
> metric, wouldn't it? Why would you want to have a mixture of M4 and 8-32
> bolts in your shop if you have a choice? While looking at a bolt, the
> difference is almost obvious for a trained eye. But when looking at a
> threaded hole, it's not so clear. I don't see a single reason to continue
> to use the UTS threads... Yet they do get used, despite the fact that
> every
> car you're working on is basically metric. I don't know, but my laziness
> goes the other way 'round...
>
> Gerhard
> --
> http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
> View/change your membership options at
> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist
>

-- 
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist