Isn't it Time for Metric Time?

xenocytekron writes: "Sure, our time system is ok, but does it make sense? Is it easy? Think about it: 60 seconds to a minute, 60 minutes to an hour, 25 hours to a day, all the way to 365 days to a year. Currently, all the world uses the Metric System except for the US. But what about Time? The solution is Metric Time, that is, a time system which uses Base-10 and Metric Standards. So what do you think: Is it Time, for Metric Time?"

Comments

Funny topic,

[Paraplegic Vigilante]

but it raises an interesting question, one that's been on my mind a lot lately.

When is the US going to officially switch to the SI unit system. I know it's taught in public schools, typically in science classes, but it isn't used in public places. If so many European countries can switch currencies without huge problems (so far), surely we can switch from our archaic units system! I don't understand why so many people are so vehemently against making the switch. Is it that hard to (re)learn?

Re:Funny topic,

[inicom]

The story I've always been told is that when President Carter tried to switch the US to the metric system, the aerospace companies stepped in and told him a couple things:

1) cost plus on government contracts is going to be a much bigger PLUS

2) it'll hurt US manufacturing by making it easier for those foreigners to sell their products here (without conversion to US measurements)

Re:Funny topic,

[some guy I know]

Actually, IIRC (and I was alive then),
Carter was in the process of converting the country to Metric.
(I particularly remember gas pumps that displayed both liters and gallons.)
Then he lost the 1980 election to Reagan.
Reagan stopped the conversion in its tracks, saying something like:
"We have become world leaders in Science without the 'benefit' of the Metric system"
(ignoring the fact that most scientific establishments use the Metric system).

Some of the effects of this aborted attempt are felt to this day.
For example, many carbonated beverages are now sold by the liter.

Re:Funny topic,

[dkoyanagi]

One of the strange side effects that going metric had in Canada is that most Canadians now think of distances in terms of how long it takes to get there, rather than the actual distance in km. The switch happened around 1977. Almost overnight all distance and speed limit signs went from miles to kilometers. Suddenly the sign that used to say:

Moose Jaw 200 miles

now read

Moose Jaw 320 km

Instead of trying to convert kilometers back to miles, most people simply divided the distance by the speed limit (which stayed the same after conversion to metric) to get the approximate time to their destination. This became very simple because most highway speed limits are now 100 km/h. So 3.2 hours at 60 MPH is roughly 180+ miles. After a while most people stopped doing the second part of the conversion and simply started thinking of distances in terms of time. I'm sure most people who've visited Canada have had this strange conversation:

Non-Canadian: Excuse me, how far is it to the nearest gas station?
Canadian: About ten minutes.

and the other measurements?

[ffsnjb]

Do we suddenly change the measurement units for navigation also? 60:60:24 exists for a reason, and directly translates to measurements in navigation (latitude and longitude.) Sounds like a blast.

So what is a third of an hour then??

[cwills]

One of the interesting properites about using the 60, 60, 24 is the number of divisors..

To wit..

60 can be evenly divided by 2, 3, and 5 (and multiples of those).

24 can be evenly divided by 2 and 3 (and multiples of those).

It is also one of the reasons why 12 inches is still popular ( 12 can be divided by 2, and 3) so that you can have 1/2 and 1/3 (or multiples of those) of a foot without getting into fractional inches.

However decimal (metric) runs into problems. You only get 2 and 5 as the multiples without getting into "weird" decimals. Exactly how many centimeters is 1/3 of a meter? how many millimeters?

Re:25 Hours?

[LinuxHam]

Exactly what I thought of, too. I think it was a NASA study done years ago to figure out how to best structure work schedules for long stays in space.

I remember this particular study involved moving people into a house a la Big Brother, but actually having that house built completely within a set, kindof like the Truman Show, but more like just limited to controlling the light coming in through the windows to give the residents a sense of sunrise, daylight, sunset and nighttime. They may have even cycled the light every, what, 45 minutes(?) to simulate orbiting the earth.

I don't remember anything about specially controlled clocks that run a little slower to add the extra hour a day. If there are 3,600 seconds in an hour and 86,400 seconds in a day, then each move of the second hand on each clock actually needs to take 1 + 3600/86400 or 1.041666 seconds.. barely noticeable. Don't worry, you're not nuts. I most definitely remember the 25 hours too, not 27 like another poster mentioned, but I think we're remembering a 20 year old study, too.

Re:Relevant Simpsons quote...

[Mad Marlin]

"The metric system is the tool of the devil! My car gets forty rods to the hogshead and that's the way I likes it!" --Abe Simpson (Homer's dad)

Actually, one of the cool things about old English liquid measure (and dry measure too, but it took me long enough to exosomatically remember the liquid measures) is that it is base-2 instead of base-10. Unfortunately, we forgot most of the units. For example, I can't recall what goes between ounces and gills, and I can't seem find it on the internet.

2 fluid ounces = 1 ??? = 2^1 fl.oz.
2 ???s = 1 gill = 2^2 fl.oz.
2 gills = 1 chopin (cup) = 2^3 fl.oz.
2 chopins (cups) = 1 pint = 2^4 fl.oz.
2 pints = 1 quart = 2^5 fl.oz.
2 quarts = 1 pottle = 2^6 fl.oz.
2 pottles = 1 gallon = 2^7 fl.oz.
2 gallons = 1 peck = 2^8 fl.oz.
2 pecks = 1 demibushel = 2^9 fl.oz.
2 demibushels = 1 bushel or firken = 2^10 fl.oz.
2 firkens = 1 kinderkin = 2^11 fl.oz.
2 kinderkins = 1 barrel = 2^12 fl.oz.
2 barrels = 1 hogshead = 2^13 fl.oz.
2 hogsheads = 1 pipe = 2^14 fl.oz.
2 pipes = 1 tun = 2^15 fl.oz.

The gas tank on my Dad's old Chevy Suburban holds a barrel and a firken. A full tank of gas costs about $60.

Re:Russia also tried it

[anticypher]

After the revolution, from 1923 to 1931, the russians used a 5 day week, with 6 weeks in each month, and 12 months in each year. The extra 5 days were specially named holidays related to revolutionary dates. Each worker got 1 day in 30 off, staggered throughout the community so no more than 1/30th of the workers were off each day. (Not everybody in russia used the calendar. The navy stuck to the gregorian calendar because all their navigation books were in that format, tribal regions stayed with their historic versions, others just ignored the decree)

It was a complete disaster, the idea was to get an extra boost from worker productivity by not allowing weekends or other time off. It had the opposite effect, workers were exhausted after 29 days of continuous work, and productivity fell dramatically.

In 1931, they switched to a 6 day week, with 5 week months, and one day each week was a rest day for everyone. Productivity jumped 50% or more in the first few months of using the new calendar.

This should be a lesson to managers who try to pull too much work out of their employees. People need time off on a regular basis to recover from the effects of working 8+ hours per day for 5 or 6 days. After spending too much time working, the body and mind can't maintain the output.

the AC
The french revolutionary calendar started with year 1, but they made it retroactive a year and called that year 0. Programmers!