Slashdot Mirror
Sony PSP Launched With Long Queues In Akihabara
Juergen writes "At 7 a.m. JST, the first shops in Tokyo's 'Electric City' Akihabara opened their doors and sold the brand-new Sony PSP to the long queues of gamers (Mirror) who had waited already for more than 24 hours in a chilly 5 degrees Celsius."
Is it longer than the battery life?
Tailgate party, Anyone?
..as the insane line outside the new Apple Store in London when it opened a couple of weeks ago. People were out there in sub freezing temperatures, some for over 24 hours. I thought they were nuts, the lot of em, especially considering there was no new product on sale.
So when did this happen? I remember back in the good old days when we called them long lines...
Waiting in line for 24 hours almost certainly did not get them the PSP 24 hours before anyone else did. It's the classic example of waiting for 2 hours in line for a 5 minute rollercoaster.
Le français vous intéresse?
Back in my day, our portables ran off 4 AA batteries, and ran for 45 minutes! And no fancy polygons, no sir, we had black and yellow sprites! And the dot matrix screen even had a motion blur feature! And we liked it! We used to carry it to school, up hill in the snow both ways, and they were heavy mind you! Of course, color had yet to be invented in those days....
- "Scientia non habet inimicum nisp ignorantem"
Come on. It's -2C right now here in Calgary and it's comfortable.
A bunch of people waited in line in 41 degree weather.
As a side note, I may not be as confident as Nintendo, but I certainly am a lot more interested in the DS than the PSP, despite the fact that the PSP technology is undoubtedly sexy and desirable.
Early reports are that the PSP has 5 hours of battery--and that's with a non-intensive (puzzle) game with no backlight or speaker or wireless connectivity-- and also slow loading times. 2-3 hours of battery life sounds more reasonable for the games everyone is interested in (3D heavy Ridge Racer, etc...), which is just not enough time. Couple this with launch titles that are almost totally sequels or so generic as to be indistinguishable from sequels, and even the still-somewhat-gimmicky DS just seems a lot more fun with a lot less headache.
... is not cold at all. It's only 41 degrees Fahrenheit (the metric I'm most familiar with). Unless there was a fair amount of wind, that seems pretty tame to me.
If a person is reasonably well bundled up, they shouldn't have a problem. By "reasonably well bundled" I mean decent socks (wool), long underwear, a warm hat (which covers your ears) mittens, and a proper non-synthetic coat such as wool and/or down. Basically, you'll be warmer if you don't use synthetics (thus is my experience). If you're going to be standing there the whole 24 hours, you're going to want to sleep - otherwise your body temperature will plumet drastically, and you're in trouble. A down and/or wool (amazingly warm!) sleeping bag will almost be necessary.
I suspect that most people took turns throughout the 24 hour period.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
JST - Japanese Standard Time. I know geography is a difficult subject, but Japan is no where near Europe.
Queue - A lot of use are programmers, and a queue is a basic data structure that we can all understand. A line is a 1 dimensional object in geometry.
Celcius - Do you realize how much easier it is to communicate with the rest of the world and to make simple conversion when you work in Celsius?
Line is an infinitely thin, straight geometrical object of dimension 1.
Queue is any process that ensures first in first out behavior among elements, such as those used with people.
Other than the number of units currently available - 200,000 - I don't see why people are so hot to get one right away. There are a couple of nice looking racing games but other than that it's a pretty pathetic lineup.
2-3 hours of battery life sounds more reasonable for the games everyone is interested in (3D heavy Ridge Racer, etc...)
Most major handheld game consoles in North America used alkaline AA or AAA batteries. The PSP battery, on the other hand, is rechargeable. Are people really away from 110*n volts for more than 2 to 3 hours at a time, unless they're already making a decided effort to retreat from technology?
(n = 1 in Japan or USA; n = 2 in most of Europe.)
Named after its country of origin 'England', English is a little known dialect used by up to 1.5 billion non-Americans worldwide. Some interesting but obviously incorrect features of the language include:
- queues of people
- wonderful coloUrs
- the useful metal aluminiUm
- the exotic herbs (h-urbs), basil (ba-zil) and oregano (o-re-gaa-no)
- specialiSed books called 'dictionaries' that tell you how to spell words correctly
Many people using this bizarre gutter speak also subscribe to the pagan belief that water freezes at 0 degrees and that distances should be measured in the forbidden mathematical system of base-10...
Read Pynchon.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I was in Shinjuku at 6 am this morning, and there was a huge queue there too. I took two pictures with my camera phone, but they didn't come out too well, and I don't want them to be Slashdotted...
Basically, AFAIK, it was lauched all over Japan today, and not just Akihabara like the article seems to suggest.
...it's the price. The PSP is a more powerful system, but add the greater price ($50 more than the DS), plus the cost of the memory card, and you get at least $230 for the basic system without a game of any kind (while $150 gets you a Nintendo DS with Metroid Prime Hunters demo), plus the fact that the battery downright sucks (and costs $50 for a second one)...
Does anyone remember the lessons of the Sega Nomad? Console-grade graphics and backwards compatibility (it could play all Sega Genesis games), but the combination of bad battery life + awkward media (Nomad w/fat Genesis cartridges, PSP with disks) + high price = miserable failure.
How about Game Gear? It sold better than the Nomad, and had FAR superior graphics to the GB, but the bad battery life and higher price killed it.
The PSP strikes me as a repeat of history.
Shinjuku (actually the first launch is at there, 6:00 am with the SCEI president)/ pspsin.htm
/ shibuya.htm
/ pspetc.htm
/. crowd are still skeptic about PSP, judging from the massive PSP demand in Japan (and the first reviews praising its super-high Sharp LCD quality), especially in contrast to the very quiet NDS launch there, it's almost evident that who pwned whom in the new generation of handhelds, at least in people's mindshare when PSP's supply is still short now. PS & PS2 again.
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20041212
Shibuya
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20041212
Yurakucho & Akihabara
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20041212
Though it seems many
After waiting in line 48 hours for the Regent Street opening for the first European Apple Store in London, I can say its not as bad as it sounds.
The 24 hours the PSP people waited went by fast and if you ask them I doubt one of them will tell you it wasn't worth it. The people in line are worth pretty much the whole wait. Out of the some 500 overnighters and 3 2x overnighters for the Apple opening, I have made many new friends from around the globe that I will be keeping in touch with.
The -1 through 5 degrees celsius was just part of it, I slept for 5 hours while in line and was able to stay warm by moving around talking. Wasn't as hard as I thought.
I have a write up of the waiting at http://www.stormyshippy.com/. It started out with me leaving from Dallas, TX and ending up on Regent St.
Lucky you. The ones in the park near my place last top a little over a minute!
Comment removed based on user account deletion
So I really do like the PSP's hackability-factor, actually. Early on, Sony seemed like they'd lock it up tight--what with their DRM-heavy UMD format and encrypted Memory Sticks--, but maybe their early failure in the portable digital audio market (seems like their Walkman line didn't last two months before The Great MP3 Capitulation) made them rethink things a bit.
Anyways, yeah--I'll be a lot more interested in the PSP if someone comes up with some good emulator ports or even (gasp!) good homebrew software.
so, if I want to play some of EA's stupid sports games I can do it on the go now. sigh... when will they learn that Nintendo is the market lkeader (despite inferior systems) because they have good games?
Jeremy Logan's Website.
there's actually a gameboy emulator for the GBA, which means you can play all the Gameboy games on the DS after all.
I know what emulator you're talking about. Half the games display "This game works only with Game Boy Color" and freeze.
and its only a matter of time before someone comes out with a fully functional SNES and Genesis emulator for this thing.
Has the Xbox been cracked optically yet? From what I've read about the encryption on the DS cart bus, it may prove tougher to crack the DS through its cart slot than it was to crack the Xbox, and tethered exploits such as that of PSO are much less useful on a handheld because even if someone manages to crack DS download play, you'd have to carry a Wi-Fi laptop around to boot the thing, and by the time you're doing that you're already playing Gens and ZSNES on that laptop. Owners of Nintendo DS systems will probably have to live with the limitations of SNES Advance (limited compatibility, no sound) for the next couple years.
Hot new gadget launched, long queues in Akihabara!
In other news, the sun rose yet again this morning and a woman gave birth to a child - 9 months after having sex!
In addition, the Shinjuku store (Yodobashi Camera) attracted over 1500 people in line at 6:00 AM.
Nope. But it is a pain in the ass to be forced to recharge every 2-3 hours when you're supposed to be able to take the damn thing with you whenever you want. And different genres are going to be affected in different ways, but I think most games will be noticably less fun for it.
One Example:
Imagine playing a 3D RPG, ala FFX (or, less theoretically, how about Ys VI), and having to recharge every 3 hours. For a 25 hour game, you'd recharge the thing 8 times. Now, I don't know about you, but I can easily imagine worrying more about my PSP's battery life than where my last save point is before that big boss battle. Heck, I've had boss battles in RPGs that have lasted 2 hours (and I've got my Proof of Omega to prove it!), to give the extreme example.
Anyways--I see your point, but in sum, the whole idea of buying a 'portable' is to not be tethered to an outlet.
word on the street is that you can simply put executables on a memory stick and run 'em on your PSP (scroll halfway down).
You have to make the executable first, and you can do that only if you can crack Sony's private signing key.
On the subject of emulation and hacking, there is already a project underway of porting Linux to the DS. It already runs on PDA's, after all, and the DS has a touch screen. A lot of people on the boards (see dslinux.org . dslinux.com is no longer the official board) are already making plans on porting NES and GameBoy and possibly even SNES emulators that run on Linux to run on the Nintendo DS (running DSLinux, of course)... :D We might even (if we get lucky) get TCP/IP and a web browser.
Oh, in about 43.75 cubits of 20 stone movement towards the sun from 86 million rods at rest.
You know, your north is not as far north as our (Canada's) south. The same thing applies to temperatures. Up here, we get closer to 5F right now (normal high). Heck, our geese go to Minnesota to "winter over"! /me ducks
That's a tie ratio of less than one piece of DS software per DS hardware sold.
Nintendo DS can play all single-player games that work on GBA SP[1], and it can play most NES and Game Boy mono games and many PC Engine/TurboGrafx games through emulation. What you're seeing is the effect of parents who lack enough money for a DS and a game but who have agreed that Santa will bring the DS and the Easter Bunny will bring a game.
The Regginator said that Spider-Man DS was his favorite launch title, yet it barely scraped its way to 40k units, or less than one-fifth of Super Mario 64 DS
What you're seeing is the effect of lack of a strong brand. How many commercials did you see for Spider-Man DS, compared to the commercials for Super Mario 64 (the 1996 ones and the 2004 ones)? Ports help build and maintain a brand.
[1] There may be one or two GBA games with a tilt sensor or camera that work on the GBA but do not work well on the GBA SP, having reversed controls due to reversed placement of the GBA Game Pak slot. WarioWare Twisted for GBA (out now in Japan; coming soon to North America and Europe) compensates for the SP reversedness.
A lot of people ... are already making plans on porting NES and GameBoy and possibly even SNES emulators that run on Linux to run on the Nintendo DS
ROM whores can make castles in the sky, but you can't do any coding until you prove that you've written "Hello" to the top screen and "World" to the touch screen of a Nintendo DS. Given that the DS cart bus is encrypted and that the WiFi booting 1. may have to be digitally signed by Nintendo and 2. requires a laptop anyway, I don't see Linux on the DS anytime soon. I have to constantly remind people on Pocket Heaven boards that the DS is a much tougher nut to crack than the GBA was.
ObTopic: The PSP can load executables from the Memory Stick port, but those might need Sony's digital signature as well.
I waited about 45 minutes in Shinjuku and left at around 8:30, since I know it would be sheer madness to go to Akihabara. But the PSP is a mean machine. I will blog some findings later, hopefully some things that others haven't already mentioned.
I thought satan kept the lands outside America warm all year round?! This is most confusing news..
Canawah!?
Imagine playing a 3D RPG, ala FFX (or, less theoretically, how about Ys VI), and having to recharge every 3 hours.
Playing video games for more than 3 hours in a stretch may ruin your eyes and/or make you fat unless you're playing the exercise game for at least part of the time.
I waited about 45 minutes in Shinjuku and left at around 8:30, since I know it would be sheer madness to go to Akihabara. But the PSP is a mean machine. I will blog some findings later, hopefully some things that others haven't already mentioned. I played the Demo Disc in full (all the video and music clips and the game demos) twice, played Lumines for about 2 hours, half of the time using the speaker, half of the time with headphones, at 50% volume. The machine is now telling me that i have 52% left (2:17)...we shall see. Lumines is probably not that processor intensive compared to say, Ridge Racer. I don't have a USB cable to check MP3's either. The headphones aren't anything to write home about either.
Nerds: Guys who love tech stuff, enjoy but don't obsess over things like star wars, computers, etc. Guys who will talk about physics at dinner if it comes up (why can a saltshaker stand at a tilt when in a mountain of salt crystals? Oh, actually, it's cuz...).
Geeks: Don't know how to dress, can't interact with girls, obsess with uber-geekiness (Know how to "speak klingon," etc). Usually really nice though.
Dorks: Guys who aren't nerdy but who think they're cool/want to be cool. they don't genuinely love tech stuff, will deny/purposely avoid things that they think are uncool (star trek, etc). They'll go out to all the "cool bars" no matter how many times they go home alone. Usually they stand on the side with other friends (or alone) and just "fake laugh" all night. These guys, when they finally get a girl/get laid, they don't shut up about it till 3 years later when they finally get another girl.
But... I guess it's everyone's own definition...
After reading all these replys here, all I can see is that everyone who was not there wishes they were there. Akihabara is a magical place. There really doesn't have to be a reason to go, and to actually have a reason to be there for 24 hours is great, especially surrounded by fellow geeks. The PSP is really nothing more than a joystick attached to a small screen, which in turn is connected to a PS2 behind the couch. You can't leave the couch because it will disconnect/run out of juice. Either way, cool tech and I want one.
I beleive its physically impossible to set Word to stick to anything but US English for spell checking. You can change it, but it always seems to sneak back when your back is turned, or when your window is minimized...
~ Crummy
Oh no! 5 Degrees Celcius... So Cold! Not even freezing! Whoever shall brave such extremes?
It's only 41 degrees F. I went out to get my mail this morning, it was colder, I was wearing but pajamas and a t-shirt. Ooohhhh... extreme!
The key to the enjoyment of pop music is to replace any instance of "love" with "C.H.U.D."
Are you kidding? You'd be broiling in that getup.
;-)
Here in Denver, 41F here is jeans and (borderline) sweatshirt weather.
But I suppose it's all relative. A friend went with their family down to Disney World in winter. I guess it was like 60, so naturally the family was in shorts and t-shirts. A couple walked up to their parents and said something to the effect of, "You know...they have programs if you can't afford to get your kids good winter coats."
Wool socks and long johns are for fresh powder on the "dark" side of the mountain
"It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once." -David Hume
(Lame, unoriginal, I know, SCNR, answer: not yet)
As a state gets corrupt, its laws multiply; the most corrupt states have the most numerous laws. (Tacitus, Annales 3:27)
... but it seems that laws are made to be broken.
The Metric Conversion Act 1975.
We Build Beautiful Websites
I work as an English teacher just over the border from Tokyo in Chiba. I'm about a 20 minute train ride from Akihabara. This morning one of our teachers walked in to the office carrying a PSP and Ridge Racer. Dunno what time he lined up, but he was at work at 11. I had a go at it and I gotta say -- those graphics are nice. The screen is bloody massive for a portable. It's got a nice shiny front and just looks good overall. The screen real estate alone is a big draw and some might say it's heavy, but I didn't really notice. I don't think weight will be a big problem.
Having said that, it's wee bit expensive for my taste (if you get the value pack with the memory card). The exposed screen seems risky and after a few of us got our hands on the thing it had quite a few smudgy fingerprints on it, ruining the shiny front. And I'm skeptical of the little joysticky button thingy in the corner(and why is there only one? Shouldn't there be two for FPS games?) Dunno about the batteries -- he had it pluged in and charging at work, so I sat by the outlet and played it -- though given the battery life estimates, I don't think I'd buy one.
I'm more of a Nintendo kinda guy, anyway, and though I haven't tried the DS yet I'm inclined to buy it instead, given the possibilities for FPS and RTS games with the touchscreen and despite the less impressive graphics. Still, I'll wait and see what games come out before I buy anything. (But with a 12 hour plane ride back to Canada for Christmas next week, it sure would be nice to have either the PSP or the DS).
hoser: Slashdot reader since 1987.
This is totally, 100% off topic, but I was wondering how you came to be teaching English in Japan, and what you think of it? It's something I've been considering doing as well, and I couldn't resist asking since I don't actually see many people who have done it.
As a state gets corrupt, its laws multiply; the most corrupt states have the most numerous laws. (Tacitus, Annales 3:27)
To save my blog the hammering, I made a Journal entry here on Slashdot chroncling the timeline from when I first got in line until I got my last system (of the three I scored).
I had to go to the office this morning, so I went to Akihabara in the afternoon at around 17:00. It was sold out in Akiba City, so I kept walking. Several shops had the "PSP sold out" signs hanging on the doors. Then I arrived at Sofmap, and some guy from the store was shouting that they had stock. I asked one of the clerks if that was true. and yes, it was. Mostly canceled reservations, only Value Packs. Bought it, and came back home. Total walking time: 10 minutes.
:)
I guess I was lucky.
My site
Its pronounced 'ahhs'.
- Tempestdata
I agree on the definition of a Dork, but most everyone I know have opposite definitinos of Geeks and Nerds than those you've just given.
Though I personally prefer not using either and go straight for the term "Techie".
Calling someone a techie doesn't normally bring about any of the negative imagery, yet still makes the point.
"Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
As anyone who has been to Japan knows, there is ALWAYS a big line of Otaku waiting to get into Akihabara stores for one reason or another. One Sunday morning I had to rush off to Nagoya from Tokyo and wanted to pick up a gift, so I wound up in Akihabara at 8 AM. What greeted me were lines of Otaku waiting outside local Anime and Manga stores, mainly sitting around reading mangas or playing on their gameboys. You're talking about a country where they outlawed releasing games on school days because people would skip class to buy them. :O
You've definitely got your Nerd and Geek definition the wrong way around, although your Dork definition is correct.
Nerd: Often unwashed, can't dress, can't interact with girls, love star trek and babylon 5 and know alien languages. Like techy stuff, but don't actually understand it.
Geek: Likes and understands techy stuff, educated in their field of geekery, can get girls (usually geek girls, but that's a bonus to them). Enjoy 'nerdy' shows but don't obsess over them apart from dissecting the techy stuff in the show ('ha! that's bollocks'). Has an idea about hygiene.
I'm a geek, I lean more towards being a hardware geek. My porn is hi-res pictures of new motherboards, chipsets, processors and the like.
On topic, queuing in the cold is a stupid thing that obsessives do. Dammit, just wait a bit longer and get it in comfort.
Anyway, on another note, Fahrenheit temperature minus 32 degrees multiplied by 5/9s gives the temperature in celcius.
try { Signature mysig = new CleverAttempt(); } catch(NonCleverSignatureException e) { postanyway(); }
Nice to see the secondary market for stateside delivery is alive and well (like it was for PS2).
Current EBAY prices
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B - D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
No, of course you wouldn't....,
d =2 35_ id=6 10
http://www.liningup.net/mb/album_page.php?pic_i
http://www.liningup.net/mb/album_page.php?pic
- "Scientia non habet inimicum nisp ignorantem"
they just mispelt 'chile'
You have dork right, but nerd and geek backwards. A computer nerd is the guy with tape on his glasses. This use of the word "nerd" predates computers, and goes right back to slide rules. Geek, on the other hand, is a term reinvented (from someone who works for a circus who eats anything, esp. the heads of live chickens - check a dictionary) by the computer nerd/geek communities, originating in college towns (esp. communities around UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, MIT, et cetera) to describe nerds with social skills.
Granted, those social skills might not carry a lot of weight amongst your "ordinary" groups of people, but nerds can't even interact with other nerds properly.
Geeks are also considered to have desires more inline with society, such that they will wear nice (or at least interesting, "look at me") clothing and drive fast cars (optional) but you get my drift. They're people concerned with more than math, physics, or computers. If they are utilizing their geek knowledge in public it's usually for their own direct benefit (to wit: getting laid, making money, et cetera) or for nefarious purposes.
Behind all this of course, geeks and nerds are basically the same people. The geeks just aren't as obsessive. Of course, this is all just labeling, and it's never all that reliable.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Of course, I meant "Nintendo DS can play all single-player and GBA games that work on GBA SP".
The DS does not play anything older than a GBA-specific game.
It plays many GB mono games (through emulation) and almost all GBA games (natively), but there is a gap around GBC-specific games.
The guys at Insertcredit.com has the low down on the Battery life. Actual playtesting, no bullshit. "We charged up the battery and slammed the hell out of Ridge Racers with medium screen brightness (too bright hurts your eyes anyway) all over Shinjuku and it took -- I shit you not -- SIX HOURS AND THREE MINUTES for the battery to die. No joke. Put that on your weblogs. " The retching sound you hear in the background are the Nintendo execs choking on their sushi.
I know you're trying to be humorous, but seriously, the original GameBoy had a great battery live. Wikipedia pegs the original at ~35 hours while all the handhelds after that have been significantly less(the GBA SP can get around 16, but only if the light is off). It's really unfortunate that handhelds like that really aren't possible these days.
"Do you suppose that the long lines for the PSP have anything to do with the fact that the unit is in short supply?"
Do you suppose there would have been long lines regardless of the supply? Nod your head "Yes" and accept how absurd your rationalization is. To point-- There will be an unlimited number of showings for the new Starwars Ep3 movie, but you will STILL find people camping out campint oug weeks before hand. By the time of the first showing, lines will will wrap around the building. Being a movie doesn't make the comparison any less valid.
I would submit to the audience that those lines are less a function of supply and more a function of the popularity the product generates. I'm not dissmissing supply completely from the equation, but lets face it, supply will eventially be there.
After all, who do you think these early adopters you mention in the next breath are, anyway? They are people who would have been out there early anyway, be 5 or 5 million units... Just like the hardcore Starwars "early adoptors".
You need a FREE iPod Nano
1) Limit production run to 200,000 units at launch and christmas. /.ers) would hold off until some user reviews come in, each secretly hoping the battery life or limited games lineup will tank the thing.
2) Hardcore japanese/ sony gamers would line up in subzero temperatures for 48 hrs to buy the thing.
3) The skeptics (read:
4) Hardcore japanese/ sony gamers (remember kids, these are people who'd brave subzero temperatures to be first in line, or to secure the christmas package) post glowing reviews, obviously biased by the fact that they're already sold on the PSP and Sony brand.
5) positive reviews cause the skeptics to finally enter the stores, when production 'coincidentally' becomes large enough to cope, after which the numbers mean negative buzz doesn't matter anymore.
6) break open the champagne?
Not entirely plausible? You see, by limiting the run such that only the die hards get a hold of the thing, they are also limiting bad buzz.
Yes, but according to the article, the PSP is, despite what Sony has been saying in the press, region coded. This might be a bit of a problem for the looters by the time the thing is released in the U.S. although I suppose they could just steal another one when it launches there.
"You can't fight in here, this is the war room!"
Precisely why I've turned down jobs in the region. :)
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
This can easily be explained: English people love queueing.
If there's a line, they simply stop and wait.
I don't need a signature.
its cultural they have been lining up for thousands of years whether its bukake or suicide they will form a line to do it.
That's like 40F. Wusses. I used to wait for the bus every morning in 5F weather (that's -15C) back in Kindergarten. Thankfully, by high school I was able to convince the bus driver to let me take a mug of coffee onto the bus. The cold seems less bitter when you can bury your face in the eminating steam. :)
/. kills the ° tag. Sorry if this creates confusion.
d'oh... seems
-=-=-=-=-=
I'd rather be flamed than ignored.
You know, I took physics here in the states, and everything was in metric units. We had like a 20 minute lecture on conversions and were basically told that if we want to be in science, then everything is done in metric and only converted to english units for the sake of a marketing department. Then I took a calculus class where there were some physics questions on tests that demanded we know offhand that the gravity force is 32 pounds or something like that (I still don't know what the english unit for force is, but I learned that 32 == g for that class). To this day, I refuse to use English whenever I know physics may come in to play. Even though I'm better with English, if I believe that I'll have any physics (or even simple area or volume calculations), I will go through the trouble to convert the measurements. So there's one American who uses both... better than refusing to use metric at all.
-=-=-=-=-=
I'd rather be flamed than ignored.
... but because they use the white ear-buds as indications of who may have one, just end up with a pile of iPods.
-=-=-=-=-=
I'd rather be flamed than ignored.
I had a friend who prefered his watch in military time (i.e. 23:45 hours, not 11:45 P.M.). When people asked what time it was, he'd tell them in military time. When they got all confused, he told them that his watch used "Metric Time." 95% of the time, they were just fine with that description.
-=-=-=-=-=
I'd rather be flamed than ignored.