International System of Units overhauled in historic vote

Re:International System of Units overhauled in historic vote by Just_Smith on Friday November 16, 2018 @09:09PM (#18473498)

You're missing the point if you don't see the problem of an infinitely repeating measurement. That doesn't translate to a tangible action. You can't cut 1/3 of a meter, and there's no subunit to roll down to that can express the right number. It's not like Imperial system exists for uneducated people - it exists for trades people. Metric is the "simple" system, because it ties back to 10, a number we're all used to. I like the metric system for its scalability, but as somebody who works in a math-y area of computing, I have nothing but distaste for base10.

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Re:International System of Units overhauled in historic vote by naikrovek on Friday November 16, 2018 @09:24PM (#18473551)

I can cut 1/3 of a meter just as accurately as you can cut 1/3 of a yard.

Not being a whole number does not make it harder to find where it is.

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Re:International System of Units overhauled in historic vote by Just_Smith on Friday November 16, 2018 @09:35PM (#18473578)

Ha! I'm happy for your apparent virtuosity, but the whole of America's construction industry is quite a few years into disagreeing with you.

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Re:International System of Units overhauled in historic vote by fnordsensei on Friday November 16, 2018 @10:25PM (#18473747)

So THAT'S why U.S., Liberian and Myanmar architecture is centuries ahead of the rest of the world.

By the way, why isn't your currency base 12? All the purported benefits that apply to length would certainly apply to money as well.

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Re:International System of Units overhauled in historic vote by umanwizard on Saturday November 17, 2018 @01:36AM (#18474313)

This is just silly. People in most of the world are able to build things just fine without using the American system of units.

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Re:International System of Units overhauled in historic vote by AngryData on Friday November 16, 2018 @10:05PM (#18473679)

Yeah just line it up with that non-existant mark on your measuring stick. Is it enough of a tolerance problem to really worry about? Likely not. But you still can't point to a specific line to measure too unless they have specially added 1/3 marks.

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Re:International System of Units overhauled in historic vote by umanwizard on Saturday November 17, 2018 @02:20AM (#18474431)

> you still can't point to a specific line to measure too unless they have specially added 1/3 marks.

You also can't point to a line to measure a quarter of an inch, unless they have specifically added 1/4 marks. What's your point?

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Re:International System of Units overhauled in historic vote by unepipe on Saturday November 17, 2018 @12:58AM (#18474221)

I have a project where I need 3 wooden blocks, each perfect squares, to fit width wise in a 10” wide gap. I don’t want any space between these blocks sides of the gap they fit in. It’s an important project to me and I’m willing to pay a substantial sum of money.

But from what I am reading it sounds like you’re not able to do the job, the blocks need to be 3 1/3” wide each. It’s a no-go if I see someone try to cut them to 3 5/16”

What kind of system doesn’t let you cut such a fundamental length into thirds. Crazy.

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Re:International System of Units overhauled in historic vote by gnud on Saturday November 17, 2018 @07:06AM (#18475198)

I bet you that if I cut the blocks to 84.7 mm they would do just fine. If they don't, you take a file to one of them. And you have to do it like this with wood, anyway - because of imprecise saws, and moisture changes.

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Re:International System of Units overhauled in historic vote by unepipe on Monday November 26, 2018 @08:43PM (#18538600)

Yeah my point was every measurement system has some value you can’t easily divide into thirds. How you measure depends on your tolerances. I have no qualms using either system, but metric is a much better system in my opinion.

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