----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, May 23, 2004 1:11 PM
Subject: [USMA:29924] Re: Metric in the
States
Ask those very same people about buying gasoline in
litres, hearing metric weather forecasts, buying deli items in grams and
kilograms (and I mean having to ask for amounts in metric), driving down
metric signed roads, etc. and see how many of those "metricated" people
would agree to further metrication.
Yes, it may be old hat as far as fasteners are
concerned, but that does not translate into a broad acceptance of metric by
these people elsewhere in the economy.
Brigs and Stratton changed because they may not have had
a choice. I'm sure it wasn't because they thought the metric system was
better. It might have been as simple as wanting to produce the engine
outside of the US and the foreign company doing the job wouldn't have the
American parts to do it. Or maybe they had are having a hard time
securing non-metric fasteners for their type of product as all other users are
already metric.
But for whatever the reason don't feel that the
employees of the company who may now be getting use to metric drawings and
metric parts in the shop are all of a sudden going to get a warm fuzzy feeling
about buying consumer products in anything but "good olde 'merican".
Euric
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, 2004-05-23 12:08
Subject: [USMA:29922] Metric in the
States
Hello I would like to comment on some of the
things that Chimp says about metric in the States. There
are many!! people in the States that use metric every day of their
lives. I speek of mechanics in the auto industry who work on North American
built cars. I have an interest in small gasoline engines and was on a
forum and received an e mail from an automotive instructor in the States who
has been teaching automotive mechanics for over 30 years. I asked him
what it was like when the North American auto industry changed to metric
fasteners, he said it was frustrating at first but now it's old hat.
People in the medical field use metric every day. People that design
cars in North America design them in metric. Yes there isn't as much
metric for the average American as there is even in Canada, but to say
that Americans couldn't learn it is not right. Canadians learned the
metric system as far as it has come, and we are no different than the
Americans or British. I get really annoied with people in
marketing who say customers can't understand metric. Brigs and
Stratton changed the fasteners on one of their engines from standard to
metric on Jul. 1 2003 and their is talk of them changing fasteners on more
of their engines. Thank you very much everybody for letting me ramble
on. John
Mercer.
