Bargains on ebay? (Part 2)

[Macca]

Seller's item description is a bit rubbish - it says the driver size is 5.1 inches, while everyone knows it has a 25mm tweeter, 100mm mid-range and 270mm woofer.

I hate it when driver sizes are in metric, it means nothing to me. I have to convert them in my head and I don't like using brainpower for that, it's limited!

Same with room dimensions.

[Pigmy Pony]

After working with metric for 40-odd years, I don't need to convert to imperial in my head. I just think in metric. In fact, if I were given an imperial size I would convert to metric!

Working in millimetres is so simple - being whole numbers they are easy to add up or subtract. Better than adding up in feet and inches, I mean what's one foot four and three quarters plus two feet nine and five eighths?

[Macca]

After working with metric for 40-odd years, I don't need to convert to imperial in my head. I just think in metric. In fact, if I were given an imperial size I would convert to metric!

Working in millimetres is so simple - being whole numbers they are easy to add up or subtract. Better than adding up in feet and inches, I mean what's one foot four and three quarters plus two feet nine and five eighths?

Yes but I can't instantly visualise metric. I appreciate it's easier for measuring up and calculations.

[Pete The Cat]

I vividly remember the transition to decimal currency. As a child I was struggling to get a grip on the Anglo-Saxon base 12 counting (or whatever it was) with old money, so decimal made perfect sense.

But years later I struggled with the transition from paper files to viewing them as scanned images on computer.

I guess it's just a case of what you're used to.

[Macca]

As a child I was struggling to get a grip on the Anglo-Saxon base 12 counting (or whatever it was)

.

I think it actually dates back to the Sumerians. 3000BC or thereabouts.

[Pigmy Pony]

I expect most people will know this, but I'll say it anyway:

1 litre of water = 1,000cc = 1 kilogram.

1,000 litres of water will measure 1 cubic metre and weigh one metric tonne (1,000 kilograms). So easy.

I read somewhere that President Jimmy Carter tried to introduce the metric system, but ran into too much opposition. The author suggested Americans don't want to take on anything they didn't think of first.

[Macca]

I expect most people will know this, but I'll say it anyway:

1 litre of water = 1,000cc = 1 kilogram.

1,000 litres of water will measure 1 cubic metre and weigh one metric tonne (1,000 kilograms). So easy.

I read somewhere that President Jimmy Carter tried to introduce the metric system, but ran into too much opposition. The author suggested Americans don't want to take on anything they didn't think of first.

Had a youngster at work telling me all this and how Imperial was so inferior. I asked him how tall he was. 'Six foot seven' he says, proudly. He only realised what he'd done when everyone else in the office burst out laughing.

[Pigmy Pony]

Had a youngster at work telling me all this and how Imperial was so inferior. I asked him how tall he was. 'Six foot seven' he says, proudly. He only realised what he'd done when everyone else in the office burst out laughing.

I reckon most of us are guilty of mix 'n' match when it comes to SI units - I know I'm 5'9", no idea what that is in centimetres. Even though I've used metric exclusively in my work for decades. As for miles vs. kilometres - when driving in Europe, I mentally convert road signs in order to understand distances.

[Macca]

I reckon most of us are guilty of mix 'n' match when it comes to SI units - I know I'm 5'9", no idea what that is in centimetres. Even though I've used metric exclusively in my work for decades. As for miles vs. kilometres - when driving in Europe, I mentally convert road signs in order to understand distances.

That's it though isn't it? It's what we can relate to and what we're familiar with. The don't teach Imperial at school, don't know when it stopped but decades ago. But ask any youngster their height or weight they will give it in Imperial.

Building a bridge or sending a rocket to the moon then metric is much better. Want to know how far the next services is then 6200 metres just means nothing. You have to stop and work it out. Same as if I tell you I'm 176 centimetres tall.

[Pigmy Pony]

That's it though isn't it? It's what we can relate to and what we're familiar with. The don't teach Imperial at school, don't know when it stopped but decades ago. But ask any youngster their height or weight they will give it in Imperial.

Building a bridge or sending a rocket to the moon then metric is much better. Want to know how far the next services is then 6200 metres just means nothing. You have to stop and work it out. Same as if I tell you I'm 176 centimetres tall.

I just did a quick conversion (in my head) and without checking I'm going to say a bit shy of 4 miles.