this post was submitted on 01 Jan 2025
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When do you think we'll accomplish it? Certainly not in the next four years, IMO. If we're lucky, we might be able to do it within like 20 years.

Do you think it's related to Boomers at all, and newer generations might be more willing to push it through? Here's a Boomer Death Clock that says about 35% of them have passed away by now.

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[–] tal@lemmy.today 10 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

I think that the areas where it's important to switch have pretty much already switched. Science is essentially all metric.

The areas where it tends to linger are:

  • Places where existing standards are in place and would be expensive to change. Like, paper size or parts used on a given class of device or something -- dishwashers have a 1/4" hex key on the underside to rotate the device if it gets stuck. Recipes.

  • Things where the public has a general "sense" of something in their heads from experience, like temperature outside or miles traveled.

Entrenched standards probably aren't going to actively change purely for the purposes of metrification -- like, tripods for cameras are going to continue to be 1/4 inch diameter shafts -- but if a new standard comes out these days, it's probably based on metric. I expect that there'll be kind of a natural phasing out as existing standards naturally get replaced as some sort of new need arises.