US metrication is, to me anyway, a most fascinating issue. It pegs politics and nationalism against a form of common sense which the American people have been stubbornly unwilling to embrace. I embraced it wholeheartedly in 1974, when I found solving practical measurement problems to be infinitely easier in SI than in our current "system" (which I termed WOMBAT, or Way Of Measuring Badly in America Today). Yet, America's lack of common sense is closing in on her. Around 2009, the European Union will no longer deal in non-metric products, and the world's greatest case of procrastination will come home to roost in the US Congress. Then, it may be a matter of catch-up, and it will be a painful catch-up to boot.
Had Congress heeded the recommendation of the 1971 Commerce Department report, we'd all be old hands at SI here in the United States, for we would have completed metrication by 1985. Also, had Congress followed through with mandating the metrication of highway construction a few years ago, much of SI would have had to come to the forefront in American life over these several years. In a message dated Mon, 19 Nov 2001 5:14:50 PM Eastern Standard Time, M R <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Hi > > Competition always brings change. > For ex - > 1. US started working on atom bomb after > Germany started > 2. Launched rockets after Soviets started > the space race > > But economically, there is no group capable > of challenging the US for the last 60 years. > If the Europeans who claim that the metric > is superior can overtake, then this country > will take aggressive steps towards improvement > and 100 % metrication will be suggested. > > After an athlete picks up speed only when someone > overtakes him. > > But for the time being, no one can say as when > that will happen. > > Madan > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Find the one for you at Yahoo! Personals > http://personals.yahoo.com > Forwarded Message:-------------------- > Subj: [USMA:16238] How long will it the US to be 100% metric? > Date Mon, 19 Nov 2001 19:14:50 +0100 > From: "Wizard of OS" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > when will America finally realize the need for metric and how long will it > take to be 100% metric like we in germany? > > _________________________________________________________________ > Downloaden Sie MSN Explorer kostenlos unter http://explorer.msn.de/intl.asp
