....what were the 70's like?

But would you really? only to grow old in the 90s and today and realise all the dreams of the 60s and 70s amount to very little?

 

Kilo isn't a unit, though. It's a prefix and one of only a few in the metric system compared with the myriad in the English system.

To some extent it was easier a generation ago to use the English system solely in the U.S. when things were made in the U.S. Today, if you buy what you think is an America car, it has parts in it from all over the world. Some of the bolts are metric and others English. It forces people to have two tool sets. Not to mention that sometimes you think a bolt is English when it's metric and accidentally strip it with the wrong wrench.

As time goes on, I think the U.S. will eventually acquiesce with the international community. Some things change very slowly in the U.S. We're in a very conservative era right now compared with a generation ago.

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Then again, at least they had some dreams beyond materialism and the opportunity to see them pass or fail.

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Okay, "kilo" is slang for kilogram.

US Customary is going nowhere. It's practicality is what keeps it going, and will continue to do so.

 

Not practicality. Tradition is what keeps the English system going in the U.S., although people don't want to admit this.

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Decades ago there was a proposal for a universal calendar that would be more practical than what we have now. However, it would have affected traditional religious dates. I can see in that case how people have a valid reason for opposing such an idea, even if it is more practical. With metric, there is nothing religious involved, although noting people's deep opposition to it, you might think there was.

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Tradition didn't save traditional systems elsewhere. They all fell in the face of gov't imposition.

 

Timekeeping is fine as it is for the most part. What should be changed is that time zones should be divided every 15° longitude...none of this irregular stuff.

 

Well, we have 24 hour UTC time, which is used by the govt and other agencies. It would work fairly well for the average person, but people like to have a 'local' time they are used to, such as leaving for work at 8am and coming home at 6pm.

If anyone thinks time zones are bad today, it was much worse long ago in the U.S. and other places.

The 12 hour clock and 60 minute hour are examples of highly composite numbers. You can divide 12 by 2, 3, 4, and 6. 60 is even better. It can be divided by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, and 30. One of the valid gripes about the base-10 metric system is that you lose these highly composite numbers. 10 is only divisible by 2 and 5.

Highly composite numbers are handy for dividing up things evenly, such as farm and industry products and the like. Not surprising a dozen is 12, a gross is 144, etc.

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Maybe. Depends on the era. In the U.S. right now, the govt is doing a pretty good job of imposing tradition.

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A 'great gross' is 1728...all pleasant numbers.

 

True, true. What's goin' on now has little to do with weights and measures, but still you're right.

 

holy crap shut up about the metric system!!!!!!

 

Delayed response?

 

Let's instead revel about how good the Panama Red, Acapulco Gold, Jamaican, and Colombian reefers were during the 70s.

Then came Raygun.