-----Original Message----- From: millitesla [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, 2000-10-13 05:21 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Questions about the Metric System [Yahoo! Clubs: Metric America] Kristen, Canada began its conversion to metric in 1970 with the passage in Parliament of the White Paper on metric conversion. That was 30 years ago, Below is a summary of changes that affected consumers in Britain following the mandatory conversion of supermarket scales as of 2000-01-01 Note the third paragraph. Britain, unlike its commonwealth countries converted slowly over 35 years. The rest of the commonwealth, like Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Canada, etc, did so over a period of 10 years. As a result the British understand neither system efficiently. You can not operate an economy in two systems. It causes nothing but confusion, errors and costs of time and money. Yes, there is an initial changeover that can be frustrating, but the shorter the changeover time is, the less frustrating it is. The more ground the metric system gains in the US, the greater will be the confusion and errors. We lost a 125 M$ space craft due to such an error last year. It is just a matter of time before such an error costs someone their life. Do you want it to be your's? Those who think both systems should be taught are foolish. You can teach both, but one will be used and the other forgotten. And as with the British, neither will be understood. In fact, in America today, how many people truely understand the present collection of units. I don't and I'm not ashamed to say so. METRICATION AND CONSUMERS >From January 2000, all goods sold loose by the pound and ounce, such as fruit and vegetables, will have to be sold in metric quantities. Some shops have already gone fully metric, because selling pre-packed fruit and vegetables in metric quantities and loose fruit and vegetables by the pound, within the same store, is confusing. Those who want to ask for goods in pounds and ounces will still be able to do so, and shops can display prices per pound and per four ounces alongside prices per kilograms and per 100 grams. Consumers in Europe Group welcomes the hangeover. The UK has had two systems for nearly 35 years, so hardly anybody fully understands either of them, let alone both. Consumers will now be able to compare prices more easily between and within shops. The use of both systems has meant that some manufacturers have operated the two systems simultaneously in their factories and workshops with consequent wastage of time and machinery. The cost of this is eventually borne by consumers in higher prices, and working to one system will eliminate this waste and reduce unit costs. CEG recognises that some consumers will initially find it difficult to adjust, but the benefits of using just one system for the vast majority of purchases will soon outweigh the short-term problems. CEG urge retailers to display information such as conversion charts as prominently as possible, to help consumers to adjust. --------------------------------------------- DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE BY EMAIL! --------------------------------------------- You have chosen to receive messages from "Metric America" by email. Reply to this message: http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/metricamerica/bbsfrp?action=r&tid=metricamerica &sid=12177109&mid=806 Unsubscribe from the Club mailing list: http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/metricamerica/config/change_mb_list Return to "Metric America": http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/metricamerica ---------------------------------------------- Not a member? Remove yourself from this list: http://edit.clubs.yahoo.com/config/unsubscribe_mb_list?.userID=millitesla&.g roupID=metricamerica&.groupType=&.code=kqkKEmys7C
