In 'old' metric countries butter is sold in 250 and 500 g packs. As long as butter is sold in 454 g packs in Canada and other 'new metric' countries there will be no progress at all. It is simply the continuation of the old Imperial pack expressed in irrational metric. This is probably one big reason why people are opposed to SI. They could say '1 lb' in the past, now they have to say '454 g'. In the end soft metric is no metric. It is either proof of gross innumeracy or it is used to set up people against the metric system or to get back at metric users like in this example from last year:
From: Dennis Brownridge[SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Reply To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 2000/05/08 08:59 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:5129] Antimetric Engineers Recently we interviewed a 50 year old Ph.D. biomechanical engineer who was applying for a job teaching physics at our high school as a second career. Among other things, he: Said science courses should be taught in "English units" because that's what students will need in the "real world" of technology after they graduate. **Expressed irritation that the medical journals he wrote for required SI, but laughingly said he got back at them by soft converting, e.g., writing 4.448 N instead of 1 lbf.** The pack should be changed to 500 g. Just as selling milk in 568 mL cartons in Britain and Ireland has nothing to do with metrication, only with prolonging the agony. Or what about rulers with 2.54 cm increments in software programs? Han ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joseph B. Reid" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2001 2:02 AM Subject: [USMA:16135] Re: From footrule > Kilopascal reported in USMA 16025 that Sam Mallin He mentions the grocery stores and admits the large amount of products in metric sizes or labelled in metric, but the only thing he can find exclusively in FFU is one brand of butter. As for loose fruits and vegetables, he fails to mention that the scales used to weigh them and the unit price entered in the computer that is used calculate the total price is metric only. Some vague price of a pound may appear here and there as I experienced, that is not what appears on the scales or the price receipt. Actually butter in Canada sold in 454 g packages, not 1 lb. packages. Joseph B.Reid 17 Glebe Road West Toronto M5P 1C8 TEL. 416-486-6071
