"Henry Spencer" wrote in message
...

Units of measure lack those advantages. You don't constantly exchange
yardsticks with others, so there is no requirement for all yardsticks to
be marked the same way. I buy lumber in English units (no, a 2x4 isn't
two inches by four inches, but it *is* eight feet long)

Actually even THIS is changing... you can buy 2x4 "studs". What? You
thought an 8' 2x4 WAS for a stud?

Oh no, now you can buy them 89" long. It's "quicker" (and actually saves
wood) since now you don't have trim them in order to make a standard 8'
wall.


and network cables
in metric, and the difference in units is a nuisance but not a disaster,
so the incentive for standardization is reduced -- witness all the funny
specialized units in use in various market niches (even in the most
thoroughly metric countries, you buy diamonds by the carat and set type
by the point). Similarly, there's no central group which has a hand in
everyone's use of units and hence can schedule a conversion and insist
that you participate.

And don't get me started on racks for computers. :-)

--
MOST launched 30 June; science observations running | Henry Spencer
since Oct; first surprises seen; papers pending. |