Why the heck does America still use outdated measurement and date units?

[MacDaddyPanda]

Isn't Metric used in the US when it's needed? Usually engineering or other careers involving high level mathematics. As for the Gen Pop. As other's said. It's been tried before and failed. Muricans don't want it. OTherwise we'd make the change.
Not metric, but same idea. I for one for example use 24 hr clock vs the 12 hr clock. I find the 12 hr clock annoying. 24 hr clock immediately know what time of day it is. It just makes more sense.

 

[Wizec]

I almost hate to wade into this inane post, but I wanted to add to something that has been touched upon, but not expounded:

To everyone saying how "illogical" and "stupid" and "unreasonable" it is to put the month first in a date. In spoken English in the United States, when communicating short dates, we ALWAYS put the month first, and it sounds very, very weird to say it the other way around.

For example, "my birthday is June 1st". "Christmas is Dec 25th", "April fools day is April 1st". And so on. So, when adding in the year, it's only logical and natural from a human perspective (not everyone thinks like a programmer), to concatenate the year to the end. I turn 50 on "June 1st, 2025".

Now don't get me wrong, MM/DD/YYYY is not my favorite date system even though I am one of the apparently abhorrent 'muricans whom it's popular to hate in today's world. I much prefer YYYY/MM/DD, going least specific to most specific; I simply thought that it was worth pointing out that there definitely is some logic to how dates are formatted in the USofA. The other point, which others have made, is that we inherited this date format from England as well. Ah, good old traditions...

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I almost hate to wade into this inane post, but I wanted to add to something that has been touched upon, but not expounded:

To everyone saying how "illogical" and "stupid" and "unreasonable" it is to put the month first in a date. In spoken English in the United States, when communicating short dates, we ALWAYS put the month first, and it sounds very, very weird to say it the other way around.

For example, "my birthday is June 1st". "Christmas is Dec 25th", "April fools day is April 1st". And so on. So, when adding in the year, it's only logical and natural from a human perspective (not everyone thinks like a programmer), to concatenate the year to the end. I turn 50 on "June 1st, 2025".

Now don't get me wrong, MM/DD/YYYY is not my favorite date system even though I am one of the apparently abhorrent 'muricans whom it's popular to hate in today's world. I much prefer YYYY/MM/DD, going least specific to most specific; I simply thought that it was worth pointing out that there definitely is some logic to how dates are formatted in the USofA. The other point, which others have made, is that we inherited this date format from England as well. Ah, good old traditions...

It’s logical for Americans because they say the month first as you say. In countries where we say the date followed by the month, it’s less logical and catches people out.

 

[AlaskaMoose]

It’s logical for Americans because they say the month first as you say. In countries where we say the date followed by the month, it’s less logical and catches people out.

Well, in legal documents the dates are usually spelled and numbered to avoid confusion, but sometimes I use the day first and then month second, while some other times the month first, and the day second. In some parts around the world the year comes first, the month second, and the day last.

List of date formats by country - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

About the 24-hour versus 12-hour clock: I used the 24-hour clock in the military, but the 12-hour clock is just as easy for me to use. Then the Universal Time is used around the world by NOAA and numerous organizations for things like Aurora forecasts, and so on.

 

[Falhófnir]

I almost hate to wade into this inane post, but I wanted to add to something that has been touched upon, but not expounded:

To everyone saying how "illogical" and "stupid" and "unreasonable" it is to put the month first in a date. In spoken English in the United States, when communicating short dates, we ALWAYS put the month first, and it sounds very, very weird to say it the other way around.

For example, "my birthday is June 1st". "Christmas is Dec 25th", "April fools day is April 1st". And so on. So, when adding in the year, it's only logical and natural from a human perspective (not everyone thinks like a programmer), to concatenate the year to the end. I turn 50 on "June 1st, 2025".

Now don't get me wrong, MM/DD/YYYY is not my favorite date system even though I am one of the apparently abhorrent 'muricans whom it's popular to hate in today's world. I much prefer YYYY/MM/DD, going least specific to most specific; I simply thought that it was worth pointing out that there definitely is some logic to how dates are formatted in the USofA. The other point, which others have made, is that we inherited this date format from England as well. Ah, good old traditions...

4th of July?

 

[Wizec]

4th of July?

Well played, but that’s the proper name of a Holiday as well. We would still say, if in a redundant mood, that the 4th of July is on July 4th. 😃

Unfortunately with human language we don’t have the precision that I desire…

 

[Huntn]

It’s logical for Americans because they say the month first as you say. In countries where we say the date followed by the month, it’s less logical and catches people out.

I prefer day, month, year so I can avoid a coma between day and year using month, day, year. For referencing a date of the current year, 17Jun sounds better to me, but if I am typing a date in a data base and want to use all numbers, I’ll type 061722, to keep comparisons in order, new at the top and old at the bottom.

 

[eyoungren]

we actually use, or at least label, a lot of things in both systems. I suspect it has to do with international trade, otherwise there'd be no reason for a can of soup to be labeled with both.

Fair Packaging and Label Act passed in 1966, took effect on July 1, 1967. The metric labeling requirement was added in 1992 and took effect on February 14, 1994. The law is codified as 15 U.S.C. §§ 1451–1461

It's required that US manufacturers do this.

 

[eyoungren]

Isn't Metric used in the US when it's needed? Usually engineering or other careers involving high level mathematics. As for the Gen Pop. As other's said. It's been tried before and failed. Muricans don't want it. OTherwise we'd make the change.
Not metric, but same idea. I for one for example use 24 hr clock vs the 12 hr clock. I find the 12 hr clock annoying. 24 hr clock immediately know what time of day it is. It just makes more sense.

George Bush Sr signed an Executive Order during his presidency that requires any company dealing with the US federal government to use metric measurements. There may be some exceptions but if you want to contract for federal highways or build the next federal court house you have to do it in metric.

PS. I use a 24hr clock as well and have been for years. My son uses it, while the rest of the family has learned to deal with it. My dad was a Marine, 24hr time is natural to me.

 

[Wizec]

I prefer day, month, year so I can avoid a coma between day and year using month, day, year. For referencing a date of the current year, 17Jun sounds better to me, but if I am typing a date in a data base and want to use all numbers, I’ll type 061722, to keep comparisons in order, new at the top and old at the bottom.

Comas should be avoided wherever possible.

 

[Huntn]

George Bush Sr signed an Executive Order during his presidency that requires any company dealing with the US federal government to use metric measurements. There may be some exceptions but if you want to contract for federal highways or build the next federal court house you have to do it in metric.

PS. I use a 24hr clock as well and have been for years. My family has learned to deal with it and my son uses it as well. My dad was a Marine, 24hr time is natural to me.

When I first became acquainted with a 24 clock (USN) it seemed alien. Until I learned it, I subtracted 12 for any time after 12 as a quick reference.

 

[eyoungren]

When I first became acquainted with a 24 clock (USN) it seemed alien. Until I learned it, I subtracted 12 for any time after 12 as a quick reference.

Exactly. That's literally the secret. 13:00 and above, subtract 12 from the hour. Of course, there's an exception at midnight that doesn't fit because the clock resets to 00:00 instead of being 24:00.

 

[sgtaylor5]

Serving 4 years in the Coast Guard and working ten years at Digital Equipment where I had to use 24 hour time everywhere set me for life. A friend at Digital gave me a 24 hour analog clock, and it's in my office to this day. My wife has to deal with it. My present car can have a 24 hour clock setting, too. Hog heaven. I wish I had a true 24 hour analog watch, but they're expensive. I don't have to convert times, either. It's 15:53 PDT right now.

My Jibun Techo paper planner is Japanese, so I've had to set all of my digital calendars to Monday start to avoid getting confused. That's harder to get used to. I'm not as young as I was.

 

[eyoungren]

Serving 4 years in the Coast Guard and working ten years at Digital Equipment where I had to use 24 hour time everywhere set me for life. A friend at Digital gave me a 24 hour analog clock, and it's in my office to this day. My wife has to deal with it. My present car can have a 24 hour clock setting, too. Hog heaven. I wish I had a true 24 hour analog watch, but they're expensive. I don't have to convert times, either. It's 15:53 PDT right now.

My Jibun Techo paper planner is Japanese, so I've had to set all of my digital calendars to Monday start to avoid getting confused. That's harder to get used to. I'm not as young as I was.

Military time also makes it much easier to schedule certain things. On my Macs I have Carbon Copy Cloner backups set to go off. Not having to figure out AM/PM and just set the hour means I'm never confused as to WHEN things will happen.

15:59 here in Phoenix.

 

[MacDaddyPanda]

What's weird, and I don't know if it's just their own hatred of military in general, but I've had a few people get all bent up if you refer to the 24 hr clock as military time. lol, like what? It's both.

 

[sgtaylor5]

What's weird, and I don't know if it's just their own hatred of military in general, but I've had a few people get all bent up if you refer to the 24 hr clock as military time. lol, like what? It's both.

In Germany or Italy, 24 hour time is the normal method for counting time.

 

[AlaskaMoose]

When I first became acquainted with a 24 clock (USN) it seemed alien. Until I learned it, I subtracted 12 for any time after 12 as a quick reference.

Well, a 24-hour digital display in a watch works quite well, but I imagine that a watch that does not have a digital hour display is less cluttered by having a 12-hour dial, specially on a medium to small size watch. As far as I remember, all watch displays have a 12-hour dial. I wonder what one should do with a Rolex watch that doesn't have a 24-hour dial?

Besides that, in most countries around the world, specially the English-speaking ones, both the 24-hour and 12-hour times are used. The 24-hour clock is used in the medical communities (hospitals and such) to avoid confusion between the day and night service to the patients.

I prefer the 12-hour clock most of the time, and use the 24-hour one where needed. This is interesting (including the 1969 24-hour Russian watch) :

24-hour clock - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[sgtaylor5]

Well, a 24-hour digital display in a watch works quite well, but I imagine that a watch that does not have a digital hour display is less cluttered by having a 12-hour dial, specially on a medium to small size watch. As far as I remember, all watch displays have a 12-hour dial. I wonder what one should do with a Rolex watch that doesn't have a 24-hour dial?

Besides that, in most countries around the world, specially the English-speaking ones, both the 24-hour and 12-hour times are used. The 24-hour clock is used in the medical communities (hospitals and such) to avoid confusion between the day and night service to the patients.

They do exist, from Amazon:


Probably off topic, though...

 

[MacDaddyPanda]

For watch I feel that's more jewelry and aesthetic preference these days rather than a strict time keeper. Obviously that's not a rule or set in stone.

 

[omeletpants]

This is the worst thread ever on this forum. I'm shocked that the Moderators allow this to continue. It's their fault

 

[MacDaddyPanda]

There's a fun union thread.

 

[eyoungren]

What's weird, and I don't know if it's just their own hatred of military in general, but I've had a few people get all bent up if you refer to the 24 hr clock as military time. lol, like what? It's both.

Some people just have reactions to what they perceive as being military. I refer to it as military time because in the US, the military is the one entity that uses it.

But 24hr time is fairly standard in many places outside the US.

 

[roygnelson]

I think the responses help answer your question- we Americans are generally very arrogant.

 

[roygnelson]

The real reasons why the US refuses to go metric

We’re lazy, but that isn’t the only problem.

www.theverge.com

 

[AlaskaMoose]

I think the responses help answer your question- we Americans are generally very arrogant.

It is all about one's perceptions of others. For example, children in the US schools aren't arrogant or lazy just because they don't use the metric system. A different measuring system has to be thought by the people (schools, parents, and so on) for perhaps two or three generations. Languages are the same, specially for first generation immigrants who don't speak the new country's language. In this case their children will learn English in a fast pace at school, and they in turn will speak English to their children later.

To me it makes no sense to argue about things like this (metrics or not). I imagine that metrics will eventually be used in the US in future generations (maybe?)

As another poster wrote somewhere above, "there are more important things to worry about than measuring systems." Americans who need or have to use the metric system do so already. And about the DD/MM/YYYY or MM/DD/YYYY date formats, I used one or the other occasionally. The same to the 24 and 12-hour formats. Most American do the same as I do.