Imperial Weights and Measures - Another fantastic Brexit Bonus!

Soutra said:
Yes, we do shop in supermarkets, but they'll sell what people want to buy. There's plenty of stuff sold in 454g packs.

No matter what way you dress it up, Imperial measurements are useful and convenient for every day life, like shopping or how far is it to Dundee. Metric measurements are fine for precision stuff, or lab work but they aren't as instantly useful as Imperial. I see dimensions quoted in mm and the numbers can be huge. I have to convert them to Imperial just to get a rough idea of how big something is.
Click to expand...
err, surely it's easy to divide by 1000 and have it in metres? 🤦‍♂️ That's the beauty of a decimalised system. the simplicity of using a decimal numerical system and a decimal measurement system makes it easier to use in everyday life, makes calculations simple, software development simple. conversion between small and large quantities simple, in ways that a base-12 base-14, base-16 or a mixture of could never ever do. the beauty of metric is that it IS useful for both everyday life and precision work, and mass quantities for business, unlike imperial which is specifically designed for 'everyday life' a couple of hundred years ago. It was designed for a pre-consumerasim, pre-mass production, pre-globalisation, pre-transport, pre-JIT delivery world.

454g?! So what, That's a quantity thing, not a measurement system issue. It's also not the norm as this quick snapshot of tesco shows:
1631872778627.png
 
Last edited:
BoroMart said:
err, surely it's easy to divide 100 and have it in metres? 🤦‍♂️ That's the beauty of a decimalised system. the simplicity of using a decimal numerical system and a decimal measurement system makes it easier to use in everyday life, makes calculations simple,
Click to expand...
There you go, case in point. If I divide 4862mm by 100 I get 48.62 decimetres.

That's the beauty of a decimal system, you can screw it up x10 very easily.
 
Soutra said:
Yes, we do shop in supermarkets, but they'll sell what people want to buy. There's plenty of stuff sold in 454g packs.

No matter what way you dress it up, Imperial measurements are useful and convenient for every day life, like shopping or how far is it to Dundee. Metric measurements are fine for precision stuff, or lab work but they aren't as instantly useful as Imperial. I see dimensions quoted in mm and the numbers can be huge. I have to convert them to Imperial just to get a rough idea of how big something is.
Click to expand...
Why, apart from because you used them previously are imperial measurements better than metric? In what world are a archaic and difficult to calculate measurements better than ones which are easily divisible and scalable.

Interesting you use mm in measurements as an example.

You do know, don't you, that this can be scaled? To things like centimetres, metres, kilometres, nanometres etc depending on the thing being measured.

Try doing the same thing with imperial and see how far you get. I'm 6 kiloinches tall. That microchip is only 2 nanofeet across.

I'm sorry but your argument is completely backwards.
 
Soutra said:
There you go, case in point. If I divide 4862mm by 100 I get 48.62 decimetres.

That's the beauty of a decimal system, you can screw it up x10 very easily.
Click to expand...
it was a mistype, I went back in and changed it but you'd already responded. It's far from a 'case in point' You can screw up far easier in a base-12 base-14 and base-16 system and even worse in the stupid stone-pounds-ounces that has multiple bases in one system 🤷‍♂️ because not only can you mistype, but you can also miscalculate. Anyone that has done even 5 mins of programming can easily realise the simplicity of a decimal system vs this archaic crap
 
MolteniArcore said:
I totally agree Randy - we happily use the system side by side now (with lots of googling 'how many miles is 30km' etc) so there is no need to change how we operate.

What I take exception to is this being branded a 'benefit of Brexit' and how we can rejoice because we have a crown sign on our pint glasses. It just shows how stupid this Government think the public are.

It is unnecessary red tape - something that Brexit was meant to reduce.
Click to expand...
You know the Tories though. Give them 2.54cm and they'll take 1609 metres...
 
SmallTown said:
In what world are a archaic and difficult to calculate measurements better than ones which are easily divisible and scalable.
Click to expand...
Just in the every day world where we live, shop, drive, eat, drink, walk...

I could go on. But I already said that metric is fine for business but it isn't as instantly useful for instant visualisation. I'm sure you'll say it is, but most people become used to dealing with Imperial and use it quite happily. It may be archaic, but make sure you know what that means.
 
This global map tells us something very fundamental about the majority planetary system of measurement.
Their could be a non-Brexit logical rational reason?
Reportedly 97% of the planet`s total population use the Metric System.

Metric.jpg
 
Soutra said:
Just in the every day world where we live, shop, drive, eat, drink, walk...
Click to expand...
wrong

Soutra said:
I could go on.
Click to expand...
Please don't

Soutra said:
But I already said that metric is fine for business but it isn't as instantly useful for instant visualisation.
Click to expand...
It's fine for transposing between business and consumer. If you can't visualise what a 1kg bag of sugar looks like after nearly 50 years of decimalisation then I don't think the system is the problem...

We use a base-10 counting system, that is the foundation for all our maths, which is simply a way to interpret our world. Having a base-12, or base-14 or base-16 or even worse a mix of those, and applying it to a base-10 foundation adds unnecessary complexity. As a process expert, and a ways of working expert, simplification always gives the best results. Adding unnecessary steps holds back productivity, user experience, and creates more error. These aren't opinions, they are facts born out by thousands of years of collective experience. Your own personal prejudice is based on a youth where imperial was the norm, and you have failed to unlearn bad ways of working, and replace with better ways of working, nothing more, nothing less.
 
My hobby is woodturning, especially segmented turning (cutting wood into small pieces and gluing them back together to create patterns). The yanks love doing this and there are plenty of YouTube videos showing you how to do it. It is amazing how many of the American turners use metric to simplify their working out.
 
r00fie1 said:
This global map tells us something very fundamental about the majority planetary system of measurement.
Their could be a non-Brexit logical rational reason?
Reportedly 97% of the planet`s total population use the Metric System.

View attachment 24609
Click to expand...
Thing is we have broken the back of removing the imperial system, within another 20 years imperial will be the norm for 95% of people, it's ridiculous to back out from a standardised and simple approach due to this xenophobia. I think some people would prefer a poor solution but a british solution, than a good solution but an international one.....scrub that, I don't 'think' it, I 'know' it.
 
Last edited:
Norman_Conquest said:
If I am weighing myself it would be in imperial, but when I am cooking I use the metric system.

The metric system is easier to use and needs to be kept. Except for mileage.

I wonder how many on here use kilometres when filling in their mileage sheets. 😜
Click to expand...
The metric system was always there if you needed it, it is not being banned. Imperial, however has always endured and been popular even with competition from the more arbitrary Napoleonic control freakery. America's equivalent system has served them well too.
 
Soutra said:
Just in the every day world where we live, shop, drive, eat, drink, walk...

I could go on. But I already said that metric is fine for business but it isn't as instantly useful for instant visualisation. I'm sure you'll say it is, but most people become used to dealing with Imperial and use it quite happily. It may be archaic, but make sure you know what that means.
Click to expand...
In the everyday COUNTRY where we live. And only because it’s forced upon us. You are using a very parochial and small minded viewpoint in equating things you can see outside your window with the entire world

Sorry to break this to you but the world in which you speak uses the metric system. Keeping imperial measurements alive is yet another way British kids are disadvantaged compared to their European and other world counterparts. Aside from the Liberians of course
 
Last edited:
Anton_Berg said:
The metric system was always there if you needed it, it is not being banned. Imperial, however has always endured and been popular even with competition from the more arbitrary Napoleonic control freakery. America's equivalent system has served them well too.
Click to expand...
Allegedly, the Daily Mail says the death penalty is still "popular" - who says and so what?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top