It's the same thing with ocean containers, which, because they were first developed by US companies, are measured in feet - 20 ft and 40 ft containers.
cm -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Stephen Humphreys Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2007 05:41 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:38639] RE: Claim from an Australian What is it with air conditioners!! :-) There's pretty much a global use of BTU/hr as a "gauge to sell" approach. It's not an anti-metric conspiracy of like minded individuals plotting to force imperial down our throats! It's a bit like bhp and inches for TV sizes. The unit itself is not particularly important - it just makes buying them an easier decision making process. Yes, I realise that a metric unit could have been used but in these cases the industry "settled" on imperial ones. And BTU/hr would have remained uneffected by the ruling anyway as you don't by units of coolness in £ per btu/hr. In regards to soft conversions there are examples of that even in mainland europe. >From: "Han Maenen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> >Subject: [USMA:38629] Claim from an Australian >Date: Wed, 9 May 2007 20:02:48 +0200 > >First: I expected this cancellation of the directive to happen, with the >planned free-trade agreement with the USA. Too bad and too good for the air >conditioning industry which is attempting to force the BTU/h down our >throats. >I read the item in The Scotsman and one of the reactions there is from an >Australian. He claims that literally all industrial measurements in >Australia are in fact converted Imperial measurements, in other word, they >are all soft metric. I find it impossible to believe. Here it is with the >spelling errors left as they are. >Paul O, Australia > >#1: No, you don't want to go back to Pounds/shillings/ pence, that really >is the 'horses arse' of monetary caluclating. >BUT: >All Australian industrial measurements are in mm but they are just metric >conversions of imperial inches. I have worked in the metal/manufacturing >and printing industries and our standard coil widths for sheet metal or >paper is 915mm, which is exactly 36 inches. All our timber, electronic, >cabling, masonary, motor vehicles, industrial machinery and building >dimensions are just metric equivilants of imperial inches. We're not really >a 'metric society', we're just a metric approximation of imperial inches. I >was always quite happy to work in 'inches' and decimal fractions of the >inch. I never found any difficulty adding decimal inches(42.5 + 7.5 = 50) >or decimal miles (5.2+4.3=9.5), the old monetry system was the real pain in >the arse! > > _________________________________________________________________ Could you be the guest MSN Movies presenter? Click Here to Audition http://www.lightscameraaudition.co.uk
