Reply to [USMA 54623] Mark Henschel
You draw attention to an aspect of advancing metrication that metric
advocates have rarely commented upon: new technologies start using metric
from the beginning, so U.S. legacy units don't even get a foothold. This
is true, for example, for the Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) industry
that replaced incandescent lights. Finally, instead of improperly using
watts to signal luminous flux (brightness), the proper metric term of
lumens was used from the start, together with kelvins to indicate light
color. As you point out, solar-energy technology has also started out
metric.
Unfortunately, technological areas that are not new, like astronomy,
though all the work has been done in metric for many years, often
"translates" the metric units into U.S. legacy units for the public
because even science-oriented people are apparently incapable of
understanding the meters and kilometers that are so commonly used in
astronomy. But I notice that, over time, this "translation" is becoming
less frequent.
I notice too that even new products coming onto the market are being
designed in metric units. For example, all of the new Greek yogurt
containers that are taking over now are sized in 150 ml containers.
The completion of metric conversion goes on in the United States, but most
of it is done now with very little notice so as not inflame opposition.
Who cares, as long as the end result is 100% conversion?
