Are Imperial Measurements outdated?

[Tommaso Alvisi]

That's incredible...is it all true????

 

[Terry VerHaar]

Yes. Yes they are outdated. But, that doesn't stop we bullheaded Americans from insisting on keeping them. :-(http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/

 

[Marcos Montenegro]

Here you go-

 

[Bob Gundu]

The video is an excellent example why most LED lights are terrible. As well as bad lighting position. :laugh:

 

[Tommaso Alvisi]

Here you go-

Thanks Marcos for contributing!

The video is an excellent example why most LED lights are terrible. As well as bad lighting position. :laugh:

Ha ha Bob I totally agree!

But it was funny and I had to share it!

:cheers2:

 

[Joel Arvidsson]

Crazy its still used in those countries :rolleyes5:

 

[Daniel Stilling]

The imperial system always makes me scratch my head. Goodness, can it be any more complicated?
I read somewhere, so take it with a grain of salt as I don't know if it's true, but the article said that the auto industry is all metric, to avoid confusion, even American manufacturers. It would make sense if that's the case. If it's not, it's another "scratching heads" moment...

 

[Mark L. Pederson]

I grew up on US AirForce bases as my father was a Lt. Colonel - and I remember in grade school - I think Carter was president - I was learning the metric system as we were told it was the "future" and that the US was "going to switch to all metric" - and then - that same year - just as I had become metric educated - the teacher stopped teaching us metric - and told us "the US is not going metric anymore".

You gotta wonder how that happened ...?

 

[Alan Piper]

Avoirdupois is alive and well in the UK of course.
Along with Feet and Inches, (1st AC's 1st choice), Miles, Pints (also 1st AC's 1st choice, naturally), and a little bit of Farenheit....

 

[Mikael Lubtchansky]

I leave in a metric system country but EVERY pro AC uses lenses and tape measurement in foot / inch aka imperial. Noone will ever rent or want to work with a metric lens... or will remark everything in feet. Maybe mostly for historical reasons but...

I think for this particular purpose it makes more senses as most lenses will range from let's say 0.3 meter to 50 meters with the most part of a lens focus scale range being between 1 and 6 meters.

A scale going from 3 to 20 feet is easier to work with than one going from 1 to 6 meters.
Focusing at 8' is somehow easier to evaluate with a trained eye than 2.5 meters, and usually for the AC sitting next to the camera, the matte box + french flag is around 1 foot long so you can easily judge how many of this length is between you and the actor...

 

[Michael Hastings]

I grew up on US AirForce bases as my father was a Lt. Colonel - and I remember in grade school - I think Carter was president - I was learning the metric system as we were told it was the "future" and that the US was "going to switch to all metric" - and then - that same year - just as I had become metric educated - the teacher stopped teaching us metric - and told us "the US is not going metric anymore".

You gotta wonder how that happened ...?

Computers and calculators.

Conversions were always a problem and the reason for pushing for standardized metric, but as calculators and computers became cheap and commonplace and made conversions easy the need to standardize was reduced. There are just a ton of things that got standardized on inch/feet. Look at the bottom of your camera: 1/4-20 and 3/8-16 threads (quarter inch 20 threads per inch) and switching everything over to metric is harder than you think. Metric screws holding the camera together, but those don't need to fit with anything else.

My last year in high school and first year of college (1973) we still used slide rules because sub $100 calculators couldn't do much of anything. then the next year Texas Instruments came out with a calculator for $109 ($585 in 2014) that could do x squared and square root and keep track of the decimal point for multiplication/division and we never used slide rules again.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

The video is an excellent example why most LED lights are terrible. As well as bad lighting position. :laugh:

The video is also an excellent example of how we Americans are still grossly misunderstood by much of the world. And, sadly, still misunderstood by our own selves at times.

What this video doesn't show us is how the Imperial system has evolved into being something quite useful and precise. And, to be perfectly blunt, seemingly obtuse, and downright 'Merican, the only reason for us to switch to the Metric system is so we can just be like everyone else. The video didn't cover the various Imperial scales, SAE standards, etc.. And we also have to, for a minute, believe that the Metric system is somehow vastly superior to the Imperial system as it currently exists. Which poses the question, what can I do with the Metric system that I can't do with the Imperial system? The short answer is: nothing. The long answer is: absolutely nothing.

Speaking of abstractions, I could invent my own system of measures that would be every bit as accurate and easy to use as the Metric system. I could base it on peaches, since I'm eating one right now. Height of the average peach would be the measurement of "1 peach". Measure larger things in "kilopeaches" and 10,000 peaches could be a "fuzzy mile".

That aside, most of us 'Mericans who work in technical or engineering related fields are accustomed to both systems and often use them simultaneously. And I know it's not this way in much of the country yet, mostly due to other issues with education and political strife, but many school districts work with and teach both Metric and Imperial systems. My kids attend public school and the emphasis there is on the Metric system over Imperial, but the students are expected to understand and use both as dictated.


Here's the part where I become potentially offensive... Why is it that every time we see some criticism of USA measurements or standards, it's always by some guy with a British accent or some subversion of that? It's like when a British guy comments on the absurdity of American Football as a sport and the fact that it's called "football." When it was the British who were responsible for inventing the physical ball known as a "football" and giving it that name.

All you guys in the UK need to remember that you weren't using the Imperial system all that long ago and you're the guys who invented it. I've got family in Scotland and England and some of the older ones in the family still think of weighing things in "stones" and other such nonsense.


FWIW, the standardized reference for the length of a meter, which the rest of the world adheres to, is maintained right here in the good ol' U S of A at the NIST in Boulder, CO. Right next door to the atomic clock.

 

[ericyoung]

The UK stlll uses both extensively. Petrol is sold in litres but fuel economy is still talked about in miles per gallon. Beer is sold in pints, but other drinks in litres. People's height is in feet & inches.

I do think Celsius temperature makes far more sense than Farenheit.

I prefer feet and inches for approximate distances, but metres and millimetres for more precision.

As for American Football - where the ball is mostly not being propelled by feet, and the ball isn't round like the ball the British invented - well let's agree to disagree! :smile:

 

[Graeme Nattress]

The one that always gets me is the 50mm lens with focus marked in ft and in.

Graeme

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

The UK stlll uses both extensively. Petrol is sold in litres but fuel economy is still talked about in miles per gallon. Beer is sold in pints, but other drinks in litres. People's height is in feet & inches.

The USA is mostly gone metric for liquid measurements, but Imperial still prevails in trades like cooking and conversions to/ from metric are pretty straight forward when it comes to cooking and food since it never has to be that precise. 1 litre and 1 quart are almost identical in volume and we even see some industries like paint sales using gallons and 4-litre cans interchangeably. It's still often sold as "gallons" but they are usually measured and filled in liters. Buy a gallon, you get 4 liters, buy a 5-gallon can, it's 20 liters.

I do think Celsius temperature makes far more sense than Farenheit.

For sure. Although, at least the two systems do converge at one point -- that would be at -40° So the next time I'm in some really cold and shitty place and someone tells me it's "40 below," I don't have to unthaw my brain to know what they really mean.

I prefer feet and inches for approximate distances, but metres and millimetres for more precision.

And yet millimeters is no more "precise" than decimal inches. But easier to work with if you're not accustomed and don't have a calculator handy.

As for American Football - where the ball is mostly not being propelled by feet, and the ball isn't round like the ball the British invented - well let's agree to disagree! :smile:

No, the British invented the "football", as in the elongated, 4-panel ball that measured one foot in length, and was rapidly adopted as the standard ball used for Rugby. Rugby to this day is still played with a "football", although over the past decade or so they have become more commonly known as simply "Rugby balls." American "footballs" were originally identical to rugby balls, but evolved along with the sport to become more rounded and tapered more sharply to allow for more precise throwing and quicker flight. The problem is that most people think of a "football" as a ball you would manipulate with your feet when taking the name in that vernacular of the literal sense. So while the "football" used in American Football and Rugby are named for their primary dimension, one might think it funny that the average American probably couldn't tell you why that ball is called a "football." It seems that most of the rest of the world doesn't have a clue, even those in the country which invented and named the ball. Ha!

Another funny thing to note is that if we were to look at a regulation Soccer ball, or spherical football, from an archaic Imperial measurement perspective. Using the diameter as the primary dimension on which to name the ball, that dimension is 22cm, or a bit over 8 inches. We could extrapolate that to be 2 x 4 inches, 4 inches being a "hand." Therefore we could call a Soccer ball a "Two Hand Ball." Where is your god, now? Hahaha.

The one that always gets me is the 50mm lens with focus marked in ft and in.

Yeah, but everyone thinks of focal lengths in mm. I suppose if the world had solidified with Imperial measurements instead, then we would have a 2-inch lens rather than a 50mm...

 

[paul schefz]

the US is pretty much on the metric system anyway...manufacturing, technical....money!
i really don't care as long as everybody knows what it is they are talking about....and i think that is where the imperial system fails sometimes....1/8 inch is probably the smallest measure used in every day conversation yet people have no clue what i actually measures....depending on who you ask you get one mm or one cm....and looking at how houses are built in the US it makes sense...the idea of small/tight margins is lost on most contractors...
the absolute worst IMO is cooking...tablespoon and cups are not much better then a "hand full" or a "pinch"....i guess my grandma used to cook like that and was great at it, she never used a kitchen scale....but for us sometime/amateur chefs it really is a nightmare....

about the football thing...as a european (but not english) it is still painful to use the word soccer...there is a very big international presence here in LA and this summer it was a lot easier to use football while talking about the world cup....and most people (even americans) all of a sudden knew and there was no misunderstanding.....because it is football.....and american football is american football....
i wonder how long it will take until the word soccer is being phased out...

 

[ericyoung]

… And yet millimeters is no more "precise" than decimal inches. But easier to work with if you're not accustomed and don't have a calculator handy.

No, the British invented the "football", as in the elongated, 4-panel ball that measured one foot in length, and was rapidly adopted as the standard ball used for Rugby. Rugby to this day is still played with a "football", although over the past decade or so they have become more commonly known as simply "Rugby balls." American "footballs" were originally identical to rugby balls, but evolved along with the sport to become more rounded and tapered more sharply to allow for more precise throwing and quicker flight. The problem is that most people think of a "football" as a ball you would manipulate with your feet when taking the name in that vernacular of the literal sense. So while the "football" used in American Football and Rugby are named for their primary dimension, one might think it funny that the average American probably couldn't tell you why that ball is called a "football." It seems that most of the rest of the world doesn't have a clue, even those in the country which invented and named the ball. Ha!

Another funny thing to note is that if we were to look at a regulation Soccer ball, or spherical football, from an archaic Imperial measurement perspective. Using the diameter as the primary dimension on which to name the ball, that dimension is 22cm, or a bit over 8 inches. We could extrapolate that to be 2 x 4 inches, 4 inches being a "hand." Therefore we could call a Soccer ball a "Two Hand Ball." Where is your god, now? Hahaha.
…

I've never seen a tape measure with decimal inches marked on it in the UK, always imperial fractions. [Edit: I'm sure they exist, but they aren't typical].

I didn't know the origin of the name of the physical ball. But I am unusual in Britain as I basically have zero interest in watching or following sport although I enjoy playing it. So don't take my sports ignorance as representative of Brits!

 

[John Marchant]

Engineer's steel rules here in the UK usually have one side metric, the other imperial. The imperial side will have a decimal edge and a fractional edge, with finer fractions for the first few inches, and half-millimeters for the first few centimetres.

My personal favourite mix of units, both real and arbitrary is found on car tyre markings.

You've got diameter in inches, width in millimeters, section as a percentage, load as a 0-279 index, arbitrary relative values for treadwear, speed indexed with a nearly alphabetical system (no A or X, and H after V in the order) and of course pressure and load in about four different units. And that's before the cryptic manufacturing and safety standard codes. Pretty funny

 

[Ces Peynetti]

No, the British invented the "football", as in the elongated, 4-panel ball that measured one foot in length, and was rapidly adopted as the standard ball used for Rugby. Rugby to this day is still played with a "football", although over the past decade or so they have become more commonly known as simply "Rugby balls." American "footballs" were originally identical to rugby balls, but evolved along with the sport to become more rounded and tapered more sharply to allow for more precise throwing and quicker flight. The problem is that most people think of a "football" as a ball you would manipulate with your feet when taking the name in that vernacular of the literal sense. So while the "football" used in American Football and Rugby are named for their primary dimension, one might think it funny that the average American probably couldn't tell you why that ball is called a "football." It seems that most of the rest of the world doesn't have a clue, even those in the country which invented and named the ball. Ha!

Another funny thing to note is that if we were to look at a regulation Soccer ball, or spherical football, from an archaic Imperial measurement perspective. Using the diameter as the primary dimension on which to name the ball, that dimension is 22cm, or a bit over 8 inches. We could extrapolate that to be 2 x 4 inches, 4 inches being a "hand." Therefore we could call a Soccer ball a "Two Hand Ball." Where is your god, now? Hahaha.

This has got to be the best argument of Football vs Soccer I've read. Where I come from we call it Futbol, which has no hands or feet on the name, just spanglish at its best. Which is funny cus now I've seen some Euro people spell it that way.

All that to say I love the metric system, it's what I learned growing up, but having lived here for 9 years now I find myself having a good handle on both which is really useful at times. Except ounces, I hate ounces.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Check out the BBC news site's sports' section and you won't find soccer mentioned often, if at all: it's "Football". Same for Scotland and the rest of the UK. Soccer is used in the US to differentiate it from football American style. And to me it will always be good old 'footy'.