2002-10-10 Yes, but ask anybody on the street what size are the bottles? I'll bet no one will say that Jack Daniels comes in a 750 mL or a 1.75 L. They will all tell you the size is a "fifth" and a "half-gallon". and I'd bet most of them would be flabbergasted if they were told that they are a true metric product and "fifth" and "half-gallon" appear nowhere on the bottles. Except for the 2-litre soft drink bottle and 35 mm film I doubt most people are even aware of other products that are metric. And these cases the metric terms are just trade names. I wonder how many people really know that two litres is actually the volume of the container.
I'll be convinced that the metric system is really here when the average person can use it with some fluency. Instead of looking at you with a dumb look when you speak a metric term or request the information be translated in to "English". Metric may be here in many instances, but it all hidden or behind the scenes. And where it is used, you will always find the numbers converted to FFU when communicating with the public. Because of this the public is convinced that metric does not exist in the US. Those of us who are professionals may see metric creep in many places. I make a point to use it and even spec out metric parts on jobs. I've mentioned it many times on this list. I've also visited customer site across the country and have seen with my own eyes both established and newly constructed plants with heavy machinery imported from Europe and Asia, with all metric hardware. The only thing is the ones that are computer controlled, the computers are set to operate in (or at least accept data and display results in) FFU. I've seen stockrooms with metric hardware to support these machines. But, to the people who maintain and operate the equipment, everything can and is referred to FFU units. It may have metric hardware, but it is FFU wrenches that are used to loosen and tighten. If this is progress, I'd hate to see stagnation and confusion. John ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Nichols" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, 2002-10-10 18:32 Subject: [USMA:22609] Teaching > I finally knew it was a winner when I observed that one can not > buy Jack Daniels in anything but metric.
