I know the UK for example in places like down at the market it is still the good old days but....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Metric_system_adoption_map.svg

I did not realise it was so few countries left now. Kind of looks odd they are not with everyone else.

We dont use metric measurements for plenty of things even though we are officially allowed to, its not just down the market.

Quote from: Clockd 0NeWe dont use metric measurements for plenty of things even though we are officially allowed to, its not just down the market.

I know, was just an example. Still getting used to CM for my height and KG for my weight here.

Quote from: neXus

Quote from: Clockd 0NeWe dont use metric measurements for plenty of things even though we are officially allowed to, its not just down the market.

I know, was just an example. Still getting used to CM for my height and KG for my weight here.

KG for the weight of people confuses me. I learned in the metric system at school, I know what a kg feels like, I know what it looks like, I can picture a million and one things that weigh a kg, I even worked as a delicatessen for a number of years and worked everything in metric there.

Yet when it comes to the weight of people I can only picture and calculate it in good old fashioned stones.

Dont even use stones here. Its pounds or nothing.
People here have no idea what a km or cm is. You could tell them a cm is as big as your hand and theyd believe you.

Quote from: SamDont even use stones here. Its pounds or nothing.
People here have no idea what a km or cm is. You could tell them a cm is as big as your hand and theyd believe you.

But for science and things do the american scientists not use metric? Ive yet to read any form of paper which refers to the units of measurement in inches etc.

Mind you it does seem that acres and hectares are used on equal amounts.

iirc, didnt an american mission to send a sattalite to mars go wrong when it crashed into the surface, because the americans worked in inches and feet, but they outsourced most of the programing to india... where they worked in metric ?

The O ring problem on the Shuttle take-off explosion was blamed on that I thought.

I think the American insistence on pounds is funny because they dont seem to scale up very well:

"how much does that pro footballer weigh?" "about 220 pounds"
"how much does that truck of bananas weigh?" "about 10000 pounds"
"Whats the displacement of the USS Nimitz?" "about 23000000000000000 pounds".. :mutley:

Quote from: knightyiirc, didnt an american mission to send a sattalite to mars go wrong when it crashed into the surface, because the americans worked in inches and feet, but they outsourced most of the programing to india... where they worked in metric ?

Yep, lol that is exactly what happened. I think They do use metric now in sectors like science to avoid these things now?

@Sam, Yeah, The weight not even stone has always confused me and when I have spoken to an American and mentioned weight and said stone I have even been asked "whats that". Odd that one.

@Chris: I am in the exact same boat there, got taught the metric and and science stuff I did was Kg and so on so a bag of flower I know what that was etc but when ever we did big things like your own weight etc it was always Stone and Pounds, Liquid still as Fluid Ounces.
I think When I was learning they were still in that transition period. So All of us around the same age mid-late 20s and just over all are in that odd place of knowing a bit of both but it being odd if used in the wrong context. It is why Fruit and Veg are still old school because no one bar 20 and under would have a blind clue what was what.

I dont really get stone as a measure. I mean its only people we measure in it, and it doesnt really have any bearing on other things. Im just as comfortable using kgs for weight, makes more sense to me.

A big CRT TV is 45kg. A big bloke might be 100kg. A saloon car maybe 2000kg. How many stones is a TV? How many stones is a car? About time we moved away from stones I think!

I totaly agree nige.... appart from a persons weight, or something that weighs about the same as a person...

Im 15 stone - that makes sence to me

210lb - makes no sence

95kg - makes no sence


45kg tv ?  what the heck is that ?
7stone tv.... ohh, i see... its a heavy tv

Quote from: knightyI totaly agree nige.... appart from a persons weight, or something that weighs about the same as a person...

Im 15 stone - that makes sence to me

210lb - makes no sence

95kg - makes no sence


45kg tv ?  what the heck is that ?
7stone tv.... ohh, i see... its a heavy tv

95kg of pure muscle though hey Alan

Im more comfortable with imperial measurements

Quote from: zpyder

Quote from: SamDont even use stones here. Its pounds or nothing.
People here have no idea what a km or cm is. You could tell them a cm is as big as your hand and theyd believe you.

But for science and things do the american scientists not use metric? Ive yet to read any form of paper which refers to the units of measurement in inches etc.

Mind you it does seem that acres and hectares are used on equal amounts.

Yes on an academic level its metric.

I was submitting images for my journal article the other day and was confronted with "images should be 8.85cm across at 600dpi".

I acknowledge that the calculation is hardly difficult, but it seems to me that a lot of confusion would be saved if they just said 3.5 inches, or 250dpcm.