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Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by davidw on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @07:55AM (#4996381)
The way I explain this one to my European friends is:

Do you remember the transition to the Euro? How you had to mentally convert prices at first? And how old people had more difficulties with it in some cases? Now, imagine that, not just for one unit, but weights, lengths, temperatures and volumes, all at the same time.

Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by bjourne on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @08:14AM (#4996466)
Oh, the problem with the Euro was that they raised prices everywhere where they introduced the new currency. What was previously 0.8€ becase 1€, 28€ to 30€ and so on. Economic power also moved from individual countries to the ECB in Brussels. If the US started using SI (Systeme International), it's not like you would be subject to a metric-controlling organisation in Paris. :)
Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by allerratio on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @08:54AM (#4996668)
The ECB is in Frankfurt, Germany.
Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by eru on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @10:59AM (#4997283)
Actually, they didn't raise the prices on average. (There were even some papers about it. And not too much actual power shifted to the ECB in Frankfurt, since the other European countries were reduced to copying German monetary policy (or face humiliating devaluation) long before.
Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by TheAmazingIdiot on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @12:23PM (#4997773)
That's ACTUALLY where Le gran K is still stored. (outside paris)

It's the last artifact of a physical object used to measure all others. And that fucker changes weight too, so the kilogram ISNT stable. Its just like all those nasty imperial measurements used to be.

Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by PetitPrince on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @08:12AM (#4996455)
They (I'm swiss, so I wasn't affected that much by the transition) had a double display (prices in french francs/ deutschmark / lira) for quite some time before and after the introduction of the actual currency (coins and banknotes). It's not a perfect solution, of course, but the point is that the transition wasn't abrupt.
Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by rplnt on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @07:59AM (#4996396)
Well, you don't have to be so drastic. Just teaching metrics in all schools and requiring their use in higher education would be enough for the next decade or two. Only then you can start thinking about something as the petition asks.
Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by cead_ite on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @08:08AM (#4996438)
Metric is taught and used in school (middle, high, university) in the US for any sort of math or science, leastways anywhere I’ve ever been… If I were using any kind of tools to measure things and make calculations, I’d use metric, but in daily life, viz. in speech, it’s easier for me to just use the familiar imperial—especially if I want to make myself easily understood to normal people.
Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by davidw on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @08:03AM (#4996415)
Teaching it academically is different from 'living' it. See my other answer above/below:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4996402

Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by RBerenguel on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @08:07AM (#4996433)
Everyone managed after around 2 years, with the Euro. Even older people.
Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by davidw on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @08:10AM (#4996445)
But that's just one unit. Try doing it with 4, and it gives people an idea of the difficulty involved. I'm not saying it's impossible, just hard.
Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by jvzr on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @08:27AM (#4996534)
Are the US afraid of a little challenge?
Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by davidw on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @08:38AM (#4996590)
I can't speak for most people, since I'd be happy to change, but my guess is their thinking is along the lines of "it ain't broke, so why should we fix it?". For most 'everyday' use, the defects of the imperial system are most likely not that visible: if I have to guess how far something is in miles, it doesn't matter much if I say 2.5 miles or 4 kilometers, since I'm basically sticking to one unit and fractions thereof. Where the metric system starts getting a lot nicer is if you have to be more precise and mix and match units, or deal with multiples. In other words, estimating my height at 5'10" is fine for most people, but "how many davidw's would it take to cover a football field" is a problem much easier solved with the metric system.

Does that make sense?

Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by jvzr on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @09:04AM (#4996706)
It sure does. And I understand the issue that lies therein.

But, if the rest of the world is to ask of the US to switch to the metric system, there will be a time when the authorities have to enforce the system onto the citizen.

Sometimes, the greater good of the community does not align with that of the citizen. We Europeans have switched from our country's respective currency to the Euro not to please us personally but for the economic good of the whole European Union. (Whether it has succeeded or not is another debate altogether.) It sure wasn't easy for the ol' timers, but now it's all behind and even my parents don't think back in Francs when they have to pay their baguette and wine.

Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by eru on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @11:03AM (#4997309)
> We Europeans have switched from our country's respective currency to the Euro not to please us personally but for the economic good of the whole European Union.

The behind-the-scenes motivation wasn't about the common good, it was about the French trying to gain formal influence on monetary policy. The Germans had to agree in exchange for the French consent to German reunification. (Before the Euro, the rest of Europe was more or less reduced to copying German monetary policy, or face devaluations.)

Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by talaketu on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @08:13AM (#4996463)
This doesn't explain anything. Why is the USA the exception?
Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by yardie on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @08:45AM (#4996631)
Because we're exceptional! :-)

No really, the worst thing that ever happened to metric system conversion was getting endorsed by the UN. That was the kiss of death. We created the UN, we host the UN, we fund the UN, and we hate the UN. Anything backed by the UN gets turned into the UN trying to take over the US and creating a new world order.

And after the debacle with the, UN-based, ITU trying to take over internet governance metric will never get a serious political foothold in the US.

Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by scotchmi_st on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @08:16AM (#4996476)
The UK managed the switch from imperial to metric okay. It's really not that hard.
Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by UnoriginalGuy on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @08:22AM (#4996516)
Mostly okay. Our roads are still in miles per hour, and we still sell a "pint."

But at least food labels are all metric.

Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by davidw on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @08:20AM (#4996500)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication#United_Kingdom

Would indicate that the process has being going on for some 40 years and is still not at all complete. That to me indicates that it's not "easy" either.

Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by curiousdannii on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @09:47AM (#4996903)
Then look at one of the many other countries that have completed it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication#Chronology_and_stat...
Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by rmc on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @08:23AM (#4996519)
They still haven't converted. Miles & Miles per hour are still used for driving.
Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by Tichy on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @08:21AM (#4996511)
When do you even deal with these things on a day-to-day basis? These days most people buy prepackaged stuff from the supermarket. I don't think many people go to market stalls and struggle telling the merchant how many potatoes they want. I mean, some do, but it's rare enough that they would probably figure it out quickly.
Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by ohwp on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @08:28AM (#4996545)
Well old people manage to move from Europe to the US (and visa versa) do they?

Just with the Euro the change should be at once. Then everybody will be fine in 2 years or so.

Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by czzarr on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @08:01AM (#4996403)
quite frankly this is deceitful, a lot of Americans already use the International System daily for their work, and I would bet that a very large number of Americans have some knowledge of it. Whereas the Euro was completely new, the International units have been here for years.
Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by davidw on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @08:04AM (#4996425)
> deceitful

I'm telling it like I see it, please do not ascribe malice to what I'm writing. I wish we had the metric system in the US, but the units just aren't as meaningful as familiar degrees F, pounds, inches, feet, miles, and so on. That's true for me even after having spent a lot of time living here in Italy, to varying degrees, depending on how much I use a given unit.

Re:Make the Metric system the standard in the United States by czzarr on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @10:29AM (#4997117)
sorry I wasn't implying any malice, just wanted to say your explanation was misleading in my opinion