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Comment by brudgers | Hacker News Reader

This is a bunch of fictions. Americans with wrenches tend to have both SAE and metric sizes. The thread pitches of metric bolts differs from SAE standards, and drain pipes are sized on inside diameter not outside because ID is relevant to capacity.

Tape measures have standard units because they're standard where tape measures are used - in construction.

Where it makes sense, metric is common, e.g. soft drink bottles.

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> This is a bunch of fictions.

Not really, those are all pretty practical examples. I've dealt with each and every one of those.

> Americans with wrenches tend to have both SAE and metric sizes.

The metric ones will be brand new if they have them, the imperial ones will be well worn.

> The thread pitches of metric bolts differs from SAE standards

Indeed they do. In the EU Ford vehicles are all metric unless they were private imports from the USA. I'm not sure what the situation is today but when I still lived in Canada the ford we had had all imperial sizes bolts as far as they were exposed.

> Tape measures have standard units because they're standard where tape measures are used - in construction.

Yes, and as long as you don't change that that's they way it will stay. The English drive on the left because they do. But that doesn't mean they can say that they've adopted driving on the right side of the road because they could. They haven't. So construction is almost entirely in Imperial.

In a metric country, metric is used everywhere, because it makes sense.

The U.S. auto-industry typically uses metric fasteners. In my experience, that's pretty much been the case since the early 1980's - though that experience is mainly with GM products.

Some of my older metric tools predate that. I owned a '64 Baja bug - thereby learning the art of static timing adjustment.

Changing tape measures isn't going to change US construction practice. Lumber has to change. Cold formed steel manufacturing standards have to change. Steel mills have to change.

All the engineering tables have to change. And insurance underwriters have to be willing to eat claims based on any confusion which this creates - it's kind of like the Hubble telescope without NASA redundancy, except that people will probably die.

The baja bug is a VW beetle re-run (so German, hence metric).

Agreed with all the other points and that is exactly why I think this will not happen.

I used to work as a professional mechanic and the auto industry used to be split, with American brands using SAE and imports using metric. This was all changing fast in the 90s such that pretty much everything is metric on cars these days. Still, there are a few exceptions here and there.

Two liter bottles are an anomaly. Every other pop container is in ounces. Cans are 16 ounces and bottles are usually 20 ounces.

I can't think of a situation where "metric is common" for consumer items.

California wine 750mL bottles. Obviously the imported stuff is in mL but so are the domestics.

Every OTC pharmaceutical I've ever seen, pretty much.

There's a pretty weird combination of liters and ounces in soft drinks. 2 L and 20 oz are very (most?) common for bottled soda. 1 gal is common for bottled water, but for individual bottles, 0.5 L (16.9 oz) is common. 1 L and 1.5 L bottles of various beverages are not unheard of. Cans of soda are generally 12 oz, though 16 oz and 24 oz are not uncommon among beers. Wine, as mentioned below, is often 750 mL, but liquor is often sold by the quart.

So I wouldn't say the 2 L bottle is the sole anomaly, but metric is definitely not the prevalent system for beverages.

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