Ending the Era of the U.S. Survey Foot • Hacker News Board

Re: Ending the Era of the U.S. Survey Foot

#11

Post by alexpotato » Fri, Jan 31, 2020, 8:53 PM UTC

hadlock wrote: post #3

Mildly surprising that we are not just using meters at this point.

Back in the 90s, new construction for the US Govt was supposed to all be done using the metric standard even though all of the supplies were in US/Imperial units. Can't imagine the headaches that caused.

Source: My uncle who is/was a contractor

Re: Ending the Era of the U.S. Survey Foot

#12

Post by twic » Fri, Jan 31, 2020, 8:53 PM UTC

whatshisface wrote: post #5

yathern wrote: post #2

If anyone else is curious - the "US Survey Foot" was 609nm larger than the US International Foot. Or, 0.0002% Larger.

It would take 41,708 feet for the error to add up to one inch.

Which feet?

Re: Ending the Era of the U.S. Survey Foot

#13

Post by oneplane » Fri, Jan 31, 2020, 9:01 PM UTC

kbar13 wrote: post #6

hadlock wrote: post #3

Mildly surprising that we are not just using meters at this point.

think renaming a software library is hard? try changing units of measure!!!!!

I think that's what they did in Canada and it worked out great as far as I can tell (except that they had a silly clock based on 10 hours instead of 12 IIRC which had little to do with metric units and nobody wanted it nor was it compatible with the rest of the world).

Re: Ending the Era of the U.S. Survey Foot

#14

Post by oneplane » Fri, Jan 31, 2020, 9:02 PM UTC

twic wrote: post #12

whatshisface wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would take 41,708 feet for the error to add up to one inch.

Which feet?

The non-survey one

Re: Ending the Era of the U.S. Survey Foot

#15

Post by sbierwagen » Fri, Jan 31, 2020, 9:03 PM UTC

zamalek wrote: post #8

hadlock wrote: post #3

Mildly surprising that we are not just using meters at this point.

The situation is far more bizarre than "use" or "not use." As I understand it, America uses something along the lines of "converted metric units" - i.e. the entire imperial system is defined according to metric/SI. Some subset of public records have been, supposedly, converted to metric. If you have a recent car, it should have km/h alongside mph (in a smaller font, or as a different digital readout). You'll find met…

US cars have had dual speedometers for decades. One example: https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-1980-1981-FORD-MUSTANG-85MPH-SP...

Re: Ending the Era of the U.S. Survey Foot

#16

Post by DoofusOfDeath » Fri, Jan 31, 2020, 9:12 PM UTC

The article left me confused about what it means to have a legally binding redefinition of a term.

Does this mean that all existing, legally binding contracts are to be reinterpreted using the new definition of "foot"?

Does it mean that any new legal document (contract, legislation, etc.) that uses the term "foot" without further clarification shall be assumed to mean this new definition of "foot"?

Re: Ending the Era of the U.S. Survey Foot

#17

Post by ska » Fri, Jan 31, 2020, 9:14 PM UTC

DoofusOfDeath wrote: post #16

The article left me confused about what it means to have a legally binding redefinition of a term. Does this mean that all existing, legally binding contracts are to be reinterpreted using the new definition of "foot"? Does it mean that any new legal document (contract, legislation, etc.) that uses the term "foot" without further clarification shall be assumed to mean this new definition of "foot"?

I believe it is the latter.

Re: Ending the Era of the U.S. Survey Foot

#18

Post by ska » Fri, Jan 31, 2020, 9:15 PM UTC

Ah, the joy of standards.

Re: Ending the Era of the U.S. Survey Foot

#19

Post by kibwen » Fri, Jan 31, 2020, 9:16 PM UTC

oneplane wrote: post #13

kbar13 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

think renaming a software library is hard? try changing units of measure!!!!!

I think that's what they did in Canada and it worked out great as far as I can tell (except that they had a silly clock based on 10 hours instead of 12 IIRC which had little to do with metric units and nobody wanted it nor was it compatible with the rest of the world).

I suppose it depends on what your goals are; despite being officially metric, my Canadian and British friends still seem to exhibit a melange of imperial and metric in everyday life.

Re: Ending the Era of the U.S. Survey Foot

#20

Post by saghm » Fri, Jan 31, 2020, 9:31 PM UTC

kibwen wrote: post #19

oneplane wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that's what they did in Canada and it worked out great as far as I can tell (except that they had a silly clock based on 10 hours instead of 12 IIRC which had little to do with metric units and nobody wanted it nor was it compatible with the rest of the world).

I suppose it depends on what your goals are; despite being officially metric, my Canadian and British friends still seem to exhibit a melange of imperial and metric in everyday life.

I notice sometimes when watching British television that stones are commonly used as a unit of weight, which is interesting because it's imperial, not metric, but I've seen never it used in American contexts.