My suggestion would be that our country's leading national newspaper, the USA Today, ought to have the courage to just go ahead right now and use only metric units, allowing people to go on line to switch back to non-metric there if they choose. By the way, one other complaint from a parochial rah rah Jacksonville, Florida, Chamber of Commerce kind of booster! Jacksonville ought to be treated with the same dignity in your weather as all the other biggest cities. We are not a second tier city. Some cities must less important are treated with more dignity than Jacksonville. Now, back to metrication. The USA Today also aspires to an international readership. Nobody else in the world, other than some slow Americans, fails to use metric. If the USA Today were to provide LEADERSHIP on this issue, I cannot imagine you would lose any sales, but I do believe it is entirely possible that this might help to pick up some sales. Andy Johnson more info at http://www.metric.org --- "USATIN: Weather" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > One way we could do it online, once we make > improvements in the system that > supports our Web site, would be to make it possible > for readers to toggle > from metric to English when looking at online > forecasts or condition > reports. > > I think for a "conversion" to metric to work there > would have to be a period > during which both sets of units are used... As noted > above, that would be > easy online, but very difficult in print or on > televison because using two > sets of units takes up space on a page or time on > the air. Space and time > are in short supply in the news business. > > As to when we'd shift; that's a decision that would > be made by people higher > up the food chain than me... But I'm pretty sure we > would not be the first, > nor want to be the last... The decision would have > to be based on trying to > find out how readers would react... would metric > chase away large numbers? > Would not using metric chase away large numbers? I > know that now in Canada > and the UK you still sometimes see both sets of > units used... For instance, > I just found the following on the UK Met Office (the > government weather > office) Web site: > > Tonight: Dry, clear and frosty with > a few mist or fog patches. Light > westerly winds. Minimum > temperature -1 deg C (30 deg F) > > ------ > How long ago did the UK officially go metric? > > As I understand it, international aviation uses a > mixture of units, such as > altitudes in feet, but airport visibility in meters. > > I couldn't see doing windspeeds in km/hr until > highway speed limits are > posted that way... > > All in all, I don't see a shift to metric > measurements as anything I'm going > to have to worry about any time soon. > > Jack Williams > Weather Editor > USATODAY.com > > > > ---------- > From: Andy Johnson > To: USATIN: Weather > Subject: RE: weather feedback > Date: Monday, March 12, 2001 5:30PM > > Thank you very much for being so kind as to respond > at > all. I fully understand that there is nothing to > stop > you from just blowing me off with no answer at all. > > Nevertheless, please bear with me and answer one > more > question: At what point would USA Today begin to > cover > the weather in metric? > > *Only after all major news networks and only after > all > other major newspapers have begun to cover things in > metric? > > *What if one network and one major newspaper were to > go metric in their weather? > > As you know, metric has been taught in U.S. schools > for 50 years, but more important than all the > schools > in the world is usage and more important to usage > than > schools...would be the news media. > > At this point all countries in the entire known > universe are metric except only for the U.S. > > At this point all scientists, other than maybe > meteorologists, are always only operating in metric. > > Today all U.S. auto manufacturers are metric. > > And probably, probably, if the USA Today were to > cover > the weather in metric, all others would follow > along. > > But enough of me trying to twist your arm, tell me > what would it take for you to choose to cover the > weather in metric. Do you insist that it will come > only after all other media has gone metric? That > would > not make much sense, but if that be the case, let me > have it. Tell me how many other newspapers I must > persuade before you will go metric; I'll go get them > and then I'll report back. > > No doubt at all that U.S. will be completely 100% > metric sometime in next 40 years. Probably within 30 > years. Probably within 20 years. Maybe within 10 > years. Seems to me that we would save much money and > confusion and misery by speeding it up rather than > another generation of learning to convert back and > forth. > > I don't want kids to waste time ever again learning > that 2.54 centimeters is one inch. All I want them > to > learn is that 100 centimeters is one meter. > > Andy Johnson > see http://www.metric.org for more info > --- "USATIN: Weather" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I agree that metric measurements make more sense, > > but I'm not about to start > > using them in a publication that's read mostly by > > people in the U.S. > > > > Our place in the world is to pass along > information > > to people that they > > need, find useful, or maybe even amusing. In > doing > > this we also do a > > certain amount of education, which I think is > great. > > But, we are not an > > educational institution. > > > > If we switched to metric we would immediately lose > > readers who want to know > > what's going on, not get a lesson in the metric > > systtem. > > > > We do give temperatures in both Fahrenheit and > > Celsius in our forecasts and > > reports of current conditions. > > > > Our switching to all metric measurements would do > > nothing to advance the > > cause of getting Americans to use the metric > > system... readers would just > > go elsewhere ...to weather information that they > > would understand and we'd > > be stuck with declining readers. > > > > Jack Williams > > Weather Editor > > USATODAY.com > > ---------- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subject: weather feedback > > Date: Monday, March 12, 2001 12:05AM > > > > subject:weather Feedback > > from:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > replyto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > Date: Mar/12/01 > > Time: 0:05:54 > > Message Number: 239148 > > Name: Andy Johnson > > ZIP Code: 32277 > > Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subject: Weather ought to use metric measurements. > > > > Comment: The time has come to switch to metric > > measurements in your weather. > > Windspeed ought to be kilometers per hour. > > Temperature ought to be C not F. > > You should be a force for good, not a force which > > holds our country back. > > > > > > ============================================= > > IP : 150.176.63.227 > > Browser: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.5; > Windows > > 98) > > ============================================= > === message truncated === __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? 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