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What do the countries in red have in common?

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Oooh, oooh, I know this. Those are the countries that don't use the metric system.
 
if I go to a pub in London, wouldn't I still ask for a pint rather than a half-litre?
 
They still use "miles" in the UK, too, at least colloquially - though I've seen it on many signs. Not nearly as zealous about conversion there as they were in Canada. It ought to be pink on the map.
 
Yeah, the UK still uses miles. In fact, much of their metrication thus far has been at the demand of the European Union and it's only been recently that the EU has relented and is no longer enforcing strict timetables for the UK to completely metricate. And even where they have metricated, it's often been 'soft' metrication (i.e. milk is still sold as quarts, half-gallons, etc., only it's now labelled "1.136 L"). Still, the government is officially metric and only/primarily uses metric equivalents in internal documents.

If you want to see a country that has really embraced SI, go to South Africa where car ads give you the engine's power in kilojoules. Not even France typically does that.
 
Is Ireland similar to UK in its less-than-complete adoption of the metric system?
 
No, Ireland is further along. A few years ago they made the changeover from mph to km/h on their roads and I believe all distances are metric. In the UK, metric signage is still illegal. So, in that regard, the US is farther along with metrication than the UK since metric signage isn't illegal, just not common.
 
Metrication will never happen in the US. It's too much to change, like the dollar coins. While it would be wonderful for it to occur, the reality is that it would be outrageously costly to everyone, from consumers to businesses.
 
datadyne007 said:
Metrication will never happen in the US. It's too much to change, like the dollar coins. While it would be wonderful for it to occur, the reality is that it would be outrageously costly to everyone, from consumers to businesses.
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A big part of the fight against metrication was led by the Big 3 and the UAW. Now that their power is waning and the defense industry uses metric standards, perhaps change can occur.

It is going to be really expensive to change all the legacy tooling and suppliers for metric stations. With more and more things being computer controlled though, it's likely that conversions could be done more easily than in the analog past.
 
There's an interstate in New Mexico somewhere that uses metric distances. I forget if it was to help drivers from Mexico or as part of an experimental scheme in the 70s, but local businesses actually fought against standardizing it since the exit numbers are based on kilometers and they'd have to change all their directions.
 
Lurker said:
A big part of the fight against metrication was led by the Big 3 and the UAW. Now that their power is waning and the defense industry uses metric standards, perhaps change can occur.

It is going to be really expensive to change all the legacy tooling and suppliers for metric stations. With more and more things being computer controlled though, it's likely that conversions could be done more easily than in the analog past.
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A big chunk of the problem is in the shop industry where entire new sets of tools would need to be ordered and (older) machines would have to be completely replaced.

It's such a shame though because the metric system just makes so much sense.
 
I'd like to think that metrication will happen, it's just not a priority right now. After all, there was a line in the 1988 Omnibus bill that stated the US was to convert by 2000 or 2001, but that part of the law was struck down and was signed out of the law by Bill Clinton.

People often over-dramatize metrication. First off, there's nothing mandating private industry to do anything that would involve massive expenditures on their part. For instance, here in Canada, cars are built identically to how they are in the US (whether it be GM or Toyota), only your dashboard gives speed and distance in km/h and km, respectively. If you go to a convenience store, your bottle of Coke says "591 mL" instead of "20 fl. oz. (591 mL)". Even, my house's thermostat, which is no more than 10 years old, only works in Fahrenheit. And even where things are metricized, they're often soft conversions, i.e. when highway signs were changed they didn't move the standards, so you'll often see exit signs saying "Exit 800 m" (which is a half-mile). Another example is that cars sold in Canada officially must present fuel usage in liters per 100 km, however most car companies advertise fuel efficiency in mpg (Imperial gallons at that, which makes it even more impressive). So, even in Canada (35 years on from metrication) there's no regulation on products and services being sold exclusively in hard metric form.

Much of metrication is either not government mandated, or, if it is, it's usually given huge amounts of time for conformity, or it's rather superficial (i.e. the government changing rule books from imperial to metric). In addition, many companies have already voluntarily metricized. For instance, Proctor & Gamble is in the process of converting and many of their products come in standard metric sizes. And I recall reading that John Deere has converted a lot of their machinery to metric standards.

The US can easily switch over for most things that affect day-to-day life. However, the costs for instance, to road signage will cost billions and, unfortunately, it's not something that can be left for when signs need to be replaced since the average Interstate sign can last decades. So, I don't see that happening anytime soon, given the fact that those billions are needed to repair and upgrade the roads they sign. Another simple change that costs nothing is the government no longer mandating that Imperial quantities be listed on packaging.

One excuse I've heard is that people can't be bothered with understanding metric or that they won't "get what it means". When I moved to Canada, I was familiar with the metric system, but I would initially have to convert things to miles or Fahrenheit. However, less than half a decade later, I am perfectly able to see that something is 250 km away and understand the distance without converting to miles. Looking at the weather right now I can see that it's 5ËšC out and plan accordingly for when I go out in a bit. For the record, 5ËšC is equal to 41ËšF. Furthermore, a switch over, combined with education in schools solely in metric means in 10 years you'll have kids who are exposed to metric from day one and grow up understanding it and using it more and more.

Likewise for people who are in their 50s and up who grew up in Canada and were in their mid-20s and over when Canada made the switch in the late-70s. Many can still remember what a mile is or how warm 75ËšF is, and some are still more comfortable with Imperial measurements. Meanwhile, anyone born from about 1975 onward has only been educated in metric and often can't understand what you mean if you say something is 50 miles away and will look at you cross-eyed if you talk to them in Fahrenheit. In fact, going back to my thermostat, when we moved into this house I had to make a little chart for my partner so he'd know what to set it to, since I wasn't around all the time during our first winter in this place.

While the government could mandate that machinery and other difficult/expensive-to-replace equipment be put on a timetable or conversion, I think in the end they'd leave that out knowing that something like that would be a huge burden on business. I'd like to think that the government still occasionally gives a nod to free market and would let the market decide what businesses need to metricate. The things that the government can mandate are generally pretty easy and not too expensive (road signage aside). There's just no money and no one is going to spend their political capital on such a measure.

Oh, and the "metric highway" is I-19 in Arizona (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_19) and it was done so because it was built during the 70s when it was believed that the US was going to become metric.

And don't get me started on the irrational view people take toward dollar coins. [/RANT]
 
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