Here's a map of countries that have not yet adopted the metric system

I conceded the issue about 20 years ago. Still, if Japan wants these classy American cars bad enough, they can invest in a set of English sized wrenches.

Uh oh.

Here's a map with adoption dates for the rest of the world. Both of these are courtesy of Wikipedia.

Australia adopted the metric system in 1972 actually.... I lived through it as a 10 year old, a mere 5 years after going decimal currency.

The only reason I've ever heard when asked why we don't switch is things like "But then a football field wouldn't be the same length, if it were 100 meters instead of 100 yards". Dumb. The yard measurement would still exist, and could still be used in sports. It just wouldn't be the default that the country uses.

But on a bigger scale, why doesn't everyone speak Esperanto and use the Dvorak keyboard layout?

How dare you!


I speak it like a native!




























Nah...that's just an old sig line of Craven's I have been dying to use forever. Always loved it.

Why hasn't the U.S. gone metric?

i've done a couple of overseas projects in metric.
MUCH easier than imperial...

Public resistance, would be my guess. Plus intolerance of "foreign interferance" in our affairs.

SO STIPULATED.

I will admit that the metric system is better,
but I am very glad that we have NOT adopted the better system
because I am accustomed to the English system and I DON 'T wanna change.
There is too much change.
It RANKLES me when miles r rendered in kilometers.
A kilometer shoud have been defined as being exactly = to a mile
and a meter 1/1000th thereof.

(However, I still support fully fonetic spelling, like the Spanish.)




David

<Looks suspiciously at David.>

Dvorak is clearly the better system.
QWERTY was intended to sabotage the typists' speed,
to reduce key jams.
We shoud abandon the QWERTY layout, in favor of Dvorak.
I 'd love to c Congress outlaw it as a burden on interstate commerce.




David

Suspicion is justified.

I am guilty of inconsistency, and persist therein.

"llano"

"servilleta"

You're not pulling our legs, are you? <squints>

Ah, David, wouldn't reducing key jams increase the typist's speed?

You're not technically incorrect you just represent it wrong - QWERTY was meant to overcome insufficiencies in the mechanics of the early typewriter.

Nevertheless it's a good point. As a touch typist I've never even thought about using the Dvorak keyboard, it might be inefficient but it's what I'm used to. AH HA! that's why the USA is still using imperial measurements (rebelled against british imperial rule, but kept their bizarre system of measurements).

Hey, you may not know this but: type

750 furlongs in fathoms

into the google search box.

I think the answer so far is "because we don't have to".

I agree that we should, though.

That's funny.

I'm pretty sure that we've been trying to teach youngster metric as well as imperial since I was a kid. Unfortunately, because imperial is what is in common use, metric mostly just goes away.

Maybe if we just hold on long enough, the rest of the world will come to realize
we were right after all and repent their metric sins.

Here in the States, our cars get 40 Rods to the Hogshead and that's the way we likes it!



Cycloptichorn