The FORD Lounge

[Sac79]

I heard that too, but I assumed the announcer did not quite grasp the metric system.

Hopefully Elon converts to the proper system of measurement before it's too late!

That's a good one. I find it quite funny how it's only the US and GB that use miles. The rest of the commonwealth(and rest of the world) including Canada(basically USA, sorry Cory) use metric, while the colony that got away first is the only one staying united with the motherland... I would have thought the US would have championed for the metric system from the get-go! I guess now the US can't change, since Britain actually uses the metric system for everything other than distance and speed... Oh and weight, what's the stone all about?

[ArdWrknTrk]

That's a good one. I find it quite funny how it's only the US and GB that use miles. The rest of the commonwealth(and rest of the world) including Canada(basically USA, sorry Cory) use metric, while the colony that got away first is the only one staying united with the motherland... I would have thought the US would have championed for the metric system from the get-go! I guess now the US can't change, since Britain actually uses the metric system for everything other than distance and speed... Oh and weight, what's the stone all about?

Used to be Liberia, Paupua/New Guinea and U.S.

Liberia was basically a puppet state for ship registry (check their flag)

The United States Congress adopted the Metric system as our standard way back in the late 1800's

Even now distance and mass are xxx factor of a meter or kilo.

Check the NIST website.

[Dorsai]

I would have thought the US would have championed for the metric system from the get-go!

Besides the fact the U.S. predates the introduction of the metric system by a few years...the biggest problem is that it was developed by the French.

The actual biggest problem is that as an evolved system of measurement, imperial measures are more practical for day to day use. That's why regardless of what Congress or anyone else says is official, we're going to keep using standard measures.

Now, for science and engineering metric is of course inherently superior, which is why it has almost completely conquered those fields.

[Sac79]

I would have thought the US would have championed for the metric system from the get-go!

Besides the fact the U.S. predates the introduction of the metric system by a few years...the biggest problem is that it was developed by the French.

Good point! That's obviously why Britain refuses to adopt it as well!

[Rembrant]

That's a good one. I find it quite funny how it's only the US and GB that use miles. The rest of the commonwealth(and rest of the world) including Canada(basically USA, sorry Cory) use metric, while the colony that got away first is the only one staying united with the motherland... I would have thought the US would have championed for the metric system from the get-go! I guess now the US can't change, since Britain actually uses the metric system for everything other than distance and speed... Oh and weight, what's the stone all about?

Ya, the Brits use the metric system for measuring everything except the distance on the roads...lol. That is an odd one.

The actual biggest problem is that as an evolved system of measurement, imperial measures are more practical for day to day use. That's why regardless of what Congress or anyone else says is official, we're going to keep using standard measures.

Now, for science and engineering metric is of course inherently superior, which is why it has almost completely conquered those fields.

Having grown up with the Metric system I do find it super easy to work with since everything is in multiples of 10. I still have to take time to convert ounces and things like that. Distance and weight I am fine with converting.

I do very much prefer Celsius over Fahrenheit...water freezes at 0 and boils at 100 is just too simple for me;).

 

[85lebaront2]

That's a good one. I find it quite funny how it's only the US and GB that use miles. The rest of the commonwealth(and rest of the world) including Canada(basically USA, sorry Cory) use metric, while the colony that got away first is the only one staying united with the motherland... I would have thought the US would have championed for the metric system from the get-go! I guess now the US can't change, since Britain actually uses the metric system for everything other than distance and speed... Oh and weight, what's the stone all about?

Ya, the Brits use the metric system for measuring everything except the distance on the roads...lol. That is an odd one.

The actual biggest problem is that as an evolved system of measurement, imperial measures are more practical for day to day use. That's why regardless of what Congress or anyone else says is official, we're going to keep using standard measures.

Now, for science and engineering metric is of course inherently superior, which is why it has almost completely conquered those fields.

Having grown up with the Metric system I do find it super easy to work with since everything is in multiples of 10. I still have to take time to convert ounces and things like that. Distance and weight I am fine with converting.

I do very much prefer Celsius over Fahrenheit...water freezes at 0 and boils at 100 is just too simple for me;).

One of the reasons I was given, working at a major defense contractor, was the difference in the way the English system fasteners and Metric system fasteners specify class of fit and arrive at it. In the English system the basic fit is a specific size, let's use 5/16-18 as an example. The basic fit has a certain amount of "slop" in it. If you want a tighter fit, then the male portion is increased in size to make it a "tighter" fit.

Metric, nearest equivilant being M8X1.25, the tightest fit is the standard and the male portion is reduced in size for a looser fit. This gave DOD nightmares as the male portion of a given set would be weaker the looser the fit, rather than stronger as the fit was tightened up.

While we are on this, I have the second year of Ford's Metric pickup. I also had a few late 70s - early 80s GM products. Every peripheral on the engines everything is metric, except the attachment to the engine. The engine itself is English (thankfully not Whitworth or British Standard). Detroit also chose some damn strange hex sizes. A European car would have M6, M8, M10, M12 and larger fasteners with head sizes of 10, 13, 17 and 19 mm, Japanese would have M6, M8, M10, M12 etc and hex sizes 10, 12, 14, 17 and 19 mm. US, M6 = 10mm head, M8 = 13mm head, M10 = 15mm head, M12 18mm head. For a number of years 15 and 18 mm wrenches and sockets were very hard to find as no one but US automakers used them.

[ArdWrknTrk]

One of the reasons I was given, working at a major defense contractor, was the difference in the way the English system fasteners and Metric system fasteners specify class of fit and arrive at it. In the English system the basic fit is a specific size, let's use 5/16-18 as an example. The basic fit has a certain amount of "slop" in it. If you want a tighter fit, then the male portion is increased in size to make it a "tighter" fit.

Metric, nearest equivilant being M8X1.25, the tightest fit is the standard and the male portion is reduced in size for a looser fit. This gave DOD nightmares as the male portion of a given set would be weaker the looser the fit, rather than stronger as the fit was tightened up.

While we are on this, I have the second year of Ford's Metric pickup. I also had a few late 70s - early 80s GM products. Every peripheral on the engines everything is metric, except the attachment to the engine. The engine itself is English (thankfully not Whitworth or British Standard). Detroit also chose some damn strange hex sizes. A European car would have M6, M8, M10, M12 and larger fasteners with head sizes of 10, 13, 17 and 19 mm, Japanese would have M6, M8, M10, M12 etc and hex sizes 10, 12, 14, 17 and 19 mm. US, M6 = 10mm head, M8 = 13mm head, M10 = 15mm head, M12 18mm head. For a number of years 15 and 18 mm wrenches and sockets were very hard to find as no one but US automakers used them.

I still have 18mm deep swivel impact sockets solely for the chassis of my pickup.

Anyone who's had a '60's-'80s Japanese bike KNOWS about JIS screwdrivers.

Or they know an awful lot of stripped carb racks and case cover screws.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I still have 18mm deep swivel impact sockets solely for the chassis of my pickup.

Anyone who's had a '60's-'80s Japanese bike KNOWS about JIS screwdrivers.

Or they know an awful lot of stripped carb racks and case cover screws.

So, no one had anything to say about Dragon's autonomous docking or that we have new crew aboard ISS?

[ArdWrknTrk]

That's a good one. I find it quite funny how it's only the US and GB that use miles. The rest of the commonwealth(and rest of the world) including Canada(basically USA, sorry Cory) use metric, while the colony that got away first is the only one staying united with the motherland... I would have thought the US would have championed for the metric system from the get-go! I guess now the US can't change, since Britain actually uses the metric system for everything other than distance and speed... Oh and weight, what's the stone all about?

Ya, the Brits use the metric system for measuring everything except the distance on the roads...lol. That is an odd one.

The actual biggest problem is that as an evolved system of measurement, imperial measures are more practical for day to day use. That's why regardless of what Congress or anyone else says is official, we're going to keep using standard measures.

Now, for science and engineering metric is of course inherently superior, which is why it has almost completely conquered those fields.

Having grown up with the Metric system I do find it super easy to work with since everything is in multiples of 10. I still have to take time to convert ounces and things like that. Distance and weight I am fine with converting.

I do very much prefer Celsius over Fahrenheit...water freezes at 0 and boils at 100 is just too simple for me;).

I really wish the U.S. had "got with the program" when there was a big push for metrifacation back in the '70's.

45 years later I'm losing my edge at converting in my head (except for small dimensions like fasteners)

[Dorsai]

So, no one had anything to say about Dragon's autonomous docking or that we have new crew aboard ISS?

Yay, team?

The autonomous docking was nice, and very smoothly done. But it's been done before...the big deal was the launch, and having it done by a commercial provider. Watching the sixty-somethingth crew rotation in the last 20 years is not nearly that interesting.