Actually, if you read the remark in greater context, "Ikea plumbing products are threaded according to the European metric system, and not even a Rube Goldberg collection of adapters will make them compatible with American plumbing components" the real issue is not the use of the word "European" but the general lack of available of suitable adapters to connect metric threaded components to Customary threaded. I certainly have no intention of of redoing the water system all the way to lake intake 50 km away to use a metric faucet. He is correct in this claim. Getting all upset over the word European vs the real issue seems a little off-target. I have no problem with Ikea using centimeters in dimensions, but I certainly expect American plugs (and 120 V, 60 Hz ratings) on electrical appliances, and US thread on plumbing, or I go elsewhere.
--- On Fri, 3/18/11, Pat Naughtin <[email protected]> wrote: From: Pat Naughtin <[email protected]> Subject: [USMA:50083] the European metric system To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Date: Friday, March 18, 2011, 2:33 AM Dear All, There is a common piece of misinformation that the metric system is somehow foreign to the USA. This is simply untrue. When a writer referred to the European metric system in a blog at http://www.frugallyminded.com/home/simple-do-it-yourself-bathroom-and-kitchen-upgrades-that-add-value-to-your-home/comment-page-1/#comment-908 I responded, in part, as follows: You refer to “the European metric system” but this is incorrect. The three parts of the “decimal metric system”were developed as follows: 1 the decimal part came from the USA and was developed by Thomas Jefferson and George Washington (who also developed decimal currency for the whole world). Seehttp://metricationmatters.com/docs/USAMetricSystemHistory.pdf 2 the metric part is from an Italian translation from the English word, 'measure’. 3 the system part is from the original 1668 invention of the “universal measure” by Bishop John Wilkins in England. See http://www.metricationmatters.com/who-invented-the-metric-system.html I am forwarding this in case these words are useful to you in any of your metrication upgrade campaigns. Cheers, Pat Naughtin Geelong, Australia Pat Naughtin LCAMS Author of the ebook, Metrication Leaders Guide, see http://metricationmatters.com/MetricationLeadersGuideInfo.html Hear Pat speak at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lshRAPvPZY PO Box 305 Belmont 3216, Geelong, Australia Phone: 61 3 5241 2008 Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA. Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST, and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com for more metrication information, contact Pat at [email protected] or to get the free 'Metrication matters' newsletter go to: http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter to subscribe.
