On Mon, 1 Sep 2014, Carleton MacDonald wrote:
Until the following happens in this country, things that affect everyday life
and not
behind-the-scenes manufacturing, I don?t think we are a whole lot on the way at
all:
People measured in kg and m
>>> This conversion is already taking place in hospitals and
physicians' offices as part of the electronic medical record conversion.
I just received a printout on which weight (mass) in kilograms and height
in meters (at least dually) was given. Body Mass Index was given ONLY in
kilograms per square meter.
Gasoline sold by the liter
Roads marked in km ? only
>>> We lost the momentum on these in the late 1970s. We were
almost there.
Speedometers in cars showing km only
>>> Maybe not ONLY, but at least the option is there now to set
digital displays to metric.
Food in the stores sold in g and kg only, not lb, and all remaining
liquid food like milk in liters and ml only
A steak on a restaurant menu showing mass in grams and not ounces
>>> This is the 50% that isn't yet metric.
etc.
Until then the average Joe Sixpak will never think anything has happened.
>>> The "etc." are the areas that I mentioned before as having
already been converted. Maybe it is good that "Joe Sixpack" doesn't think
anything has happened. WE know that something has happened, and he is not
pushing back out of ignorance.
>>> There are no movements to go back to grains in
pharmaceuticals, or to ounces in wine and large bottled beverages. The
debate is all PRE-conversion. Once the conversion is made, there is no
push to go back. What is happening now, unlike the 1970s, is that the
conversion is made without any debate. Electric cars, solar energy, and
CFLs just started metric without any fanfare. That is the way to do it.
--Martin Morrison
Carleton
