Quote:
Originally Posted by stealthn
Because Myianmar and Liberia won't allow it
 |
Odd but true...Yes, only the US, Myanmar and Liberia are the only three countries in the world that don't use the metric system. Uniquely, in the beginning the 'Americans' did use it but due to the huge influence of them all basically being British, they held true to their roots, hence no metrics.
It is though interesting that the British did adopt the metric system but not in the use of their currency - Pounds, shillings and pence, whereas America adopted, in what made the most sense, - money. Yet for the countries that used the British Pound system, working out how much tax would pay on say... 1 Pound, 5 shillings, 7 pence, 1 thruppence- 1/3 of a penny, and 2 farthing ( 1/4 of a penny) if the tax was 9%? Your right -
Basically impossible to do in your head.
I was on a vacation in NZ in when they and AU were still using the Pound.
When at a store it was quite easy to work out
'IF' you owned what was called a 'Ready Reckoner'. The clerk pulled out their RR book that had the answer for each percentage point of each coin value.. It took a few minutes to do. I shook my head in disbelieve but at the same time found it to be very funny to watch what was involved to arrive at the amount of tax to be charged.
Re US metric...I remember well when the US did introduce the metric system in the US in the mid 1970's but it was short lived. The reason for this was that Congress did not make it mandatory;some States made the change while many didn't. Many that didn't were in the Southern States.
American Commerce knew what the importance was- a 'must do'- of purchasing and selling in metric. All of the industrial world did with the exception being that of the US. For some decades now, this is quite recognizable to see on US goods. Other than the US World of Commerce, the metric system is still not a recognized system for the nations people in general.
It is by far a superior system and much easier to use. The Germans are fast thinkers... E.G. A machinist measuring in 16ths, 32nds, 64ths,
and so on. The decimal is only in '10's which make it a much easier way to measure.
mm (millimetres in ten's )- cm (centimetres in tens, m -(metres in 10's) - km (kilometres in 10's)
Using wrench's in metrics is great 1-2-3-4-5-6-7- etc. instead of
1 and 1/64th - 1 and 1/32 - 1 and 1/16th etc. etc. etc.
What was a killer in Canada, was that when GM, Ford and Chrysler started to switch over to metrics, they choose amongst themselves to first use up their stockpiles of National Standard fasteners. The result for some years made every mechanic tear their hair out. The cars had a mix of both metric and NS sizes. Fortunately, for some years now, they are metric.
I hope that this sheds a bit of light on to the question of 'why'
Metric/Inch Comparisons // Southwestern Supply Company