Should the U.S., Myanmar and Liberia be encouraged to go metric?
Feb 18, 2009 at 3:32 PM Post #92 of 116
Quote:

Originally Posted by milkweg /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Yes, but you are Scottish so that explains why you can't use it.


no im not, i may have been born in scotland and i may live in scotland but i am british. will be a cold day in hell before i ever think of myself as being scottish any more than i would gael, pict, angle or any other historically irrelevant grouping that no longer exists
 
Feb 18, 2009 at 3:44 PM Post #94 of 116
Quote:

Originally Posted by limpidglitch /img/forum/go_quote.gif
It's the same as with this bloody qwerty keyboard we keep on using, even though we know it's stupid.


I would get some towels and wipe that mess up.

it does not sound sanitary to me.

also, see a doctor if the bleeding hasn't stopped!

wink.gif
 
Feb 18, 2009 at 7:58 PM Post #96 of 116
Quote:

Originally Posted by mark2410 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
no im not, i may have been born in scotland and i may live in scotland but i am british. will be a cold day in hell before i ever think of myself as being scottish any more than i would gael, pict, angle or any other historically irrelevant grouping that no longer exists


Ah, so I take it your family were historically "collaborators".
 
Feb 18, 2009 at 9:31 PM Post #97 of 116
Quote:

Originally Posted by limpidglitch /img/forum/go_quote.gif
It's the same as with this bloody qwerty keyboard we keep on using, even though we know it's stupid.


You know, you can easily swap keycaps around, and change 1 setting to make an instant Dvorak Keyboard, which is optimized for typing in English.

I've been using one for years now. Take about 2 weeks to adjust.
 
Feb 18, 2009 at 10:36 PM Post #99 of 116
Quote:

Originally Posted by limpidglitch /img/forum/go_quote.gif
It's the same as with this bloody qwerty keyboard we keep on using, even though we know it's stupid.


The benefits of a Dvorak key layout in actual practice are even more dubious than the benefits of the metric system... The level of skill necessary to utilize a Dvorak keyboard to the point where it is superior to a QWERTY keyboard is only possessed by a vanishingly small proportion of the population.

Also don't understand the "I can't find a Dvorak keyboard" issue. Dvorak is only useful to highly skill touch typists. If you're looking at the keyboard, you're doing it wrong and will see no benefit in switching to Dvorak. While Dvorak keyboards make for nice training wheels or conversation pieces, they're an unnecessary expense.
 
Feb 18, 2009 at 10:46 PM Post #101 of 116
I would love the US to convert to metric. As a structural engineer I use imperial 100% of the time - 1/256th inch up to miles, including decimal feet and inches. Considering I come from a generation that can't seem to understand fractions, I work with them a lot. BUT, I don't prefer them. I've lived abroad for a bit only having access to metric and was able to move over to Celsius, litres, kilometres, etc. fairly readily. The transition at this point in my life/career would be a little painful but it would be great to have some consistency when describing temperature, volumes, and distances to friends in foreign countries. I would only be able to convert completely if the whole country moved along.
Some observations:
1. EVERYONE'S computers effectively report values in base-10, not some weird quasi-base-12 system.
2. There are whole sectors of engineering that only report metric when forced to contractually - such as a Corps of Engineers project. Note that I said "report." The calculations are often still performed in imperial and converted in the end.
3. Lack of familiarity is not an effective argument to label one or another system as 'bad.'
4. The potential benefits the US would see may not be sufficient to offset the probable costs.
5. The vast numbers of my fellow Americans in the Lower-48 that only look at the rest of the world as a curiousity will likely NEVER let something like this happen.
6. In the end, the argument is somewhat moot. See #5.
confused_face.gif
 
Feb 18, 2009 at 10:49 PM Post #102 of 116
Quote:

Originally Posted by marvin /img/forum/go_quote.gif
The benefits of a Dvorak key layout in actual practice are even more dubious than the benefits of the metric system.


That's a complete myth, I'm afraid. The benefits in speed, accuracy and comfort begin to manifest in two weeks after starting. Another less-known advantage is that it keeps other people away from your computer!
beerchug.gif
HA!
 
Feb 18, 2009 at 11:10 PM Post #103 of 116
Quote:

Originally Posted by V-Duh /img/forum/go_quote.gif
4. The potential benefits the US would see may not be sufficient to offset the probable costs.


While the rest of your points are also solid (except perhaps #5. In my experience, Americans aren't exactly MORE myopic than the rest of the world, just myopic in a different way) THIS is the important one.

Sure, it would be good for engineers who work internationally. However, it wouldn't benefit the rest of the population so much as it would inconvenience them.

It gets easier to automatically convert measurements every day. The more we digitize, the more easily we can manipulate those measurements without bother. If anything, there is less incentive today than there ever was before.
 
Feb 18, 2009 at 11:31 PM Post #104 of 116
Quote:

Originally Posted by Keppel /img/forum/go_quote.gif
That's a complete myth, I'm afraid. The benefits in speed, accuracy and comfort begin to manifest in two weeks after starting.


Any independent studies to confirm this fact? As far as I know, the most rigorous study was done by the GSA in the mid '50s. They found that the cost/benefit ratio of training typists to use Dvorak were inferior to retraining typists in QWERTY touch typing.
 
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