I just sent the following message to one of the three journalists responsible for Aftenposten's English-language news section.
Bill Potts, CMS Roseville, CA http://metric1.org [SI Navigator] -----Original Message----- From: Bill Potts [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Monday, February 18, 2002 21:00 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Non-SI Units I was disappointed to see the parenthetical use of non-SI units in the Fort America article (at http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article.jhtml?articleID=276696). I was further disappointed that the conversion was incorrect. (3 m is closer to 10 ft than to 9 ft.) Those who read your news in English are, presumably, from all over the English-speaking world, plus a great deal of the world that simply doesn't speak Norwegian. Only one major country in the entire world -- the United States -- still makes wide (and official) use of the inch-pound system. However, many sectors of the economy (wine, liquor, large soft-drink containers, mineral water, the automobile industry, the pharmaceutical industry, etc., etc.) are fully metric (and use rational metric sizes). Thus, even though they may only be subconsciously aware of it, must U.S. residents do, in fact, understand and have some feel for SI units. I suspect that U.S. Internet users who visit your site are, by and large, SI-aware. Their attention to the current Winter Olympics will certainly reinforce that awareness. I know it isn't Aftenposten's responsibility to educate the American public. However, I see no reason why you should pander to the stubborn resistance of so many in this country to the adoption of a system (SI) that has been progressively adopted throughout the world over the last two or three centuries. As for the rest of the English-speaking (and non-Norwegian-speaking) world, they certainly don't need to have SI converted to something else -- and may even resent the appearance of such conversions. Respectfully, Bill Potts, FBCS, CMS Member, U.S. Metric Association Roseville, CA
