Problems with US spelling variants for writing metric

Posted on 2017-09-15 by ronniec

This week, Ronnie Cohen takes issue with an example of American exceptionalism.

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New Internationalist, a metric role model for the British media

Posted on 2017-09-04 by ronniec

Back after our summer break, Metric Views is happy to publicize a periodical that might have escaped our readers’ attention in recent years. Ronnie Cohen explains.

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Posted in Consumer affairs, General, Media | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

DfT has done no cost-benefit analysis on metrication of road signs

Posted on 2017-08-10 by ronniec

Ronnie Cohen draws some conclusions from a recent Freedom of Information (FoI) request that he made to the UK Department for Transport (DfT).

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Posted in History, Road signs, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

British drivers’ exposure to metres

Posted on 2017-07-28 by ronniec

Ronnie Cohen takes a look at some of the ways in which British  drivers are exposed to metric measures. Metric Views would be interested hear of readers’ experiences, though it is not possible, unfortunately, to post photos with your comments.

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Posted in Road signs, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Do we sacrifice consistency and clarity for the sake of convention?

Posted on 2017-07-20 by ronniec

We are familiar with size numbers for shoes, hats, dresses and so on. Ronnie Cohen looks at the convention for screen sizes based on inches and asks if this really makes sense.

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Posted in Consumer affairs, General, Media | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Does metric-only labelling require changes to package sizes?

Posted on 2017-07-16 by ronniec

An argument made against metric-only labelling in the US is that manufacturers would need to change packaging to rational metric sizes. Ronnie Cohen looks at the UK’s experience over the past 50 years.

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Posted in Consumer affairs, Education, General, Myths | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Straight bananas and the metric system – the EU legacy?

Posted on 2017-07-06 by ronniec

With Brexit still dominating the news, Ronnie Cohen looks at one of the biggest obstacles to completing our transition to the metric system: its perceived link to the European Union.

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Posted in Consumer affairs, General, History, Law, Media, Myths | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Metrication timeline for British road signs

Posted on 2017-06-29 by ronniec

In response to one of his enquiries, the UK Department for Transport (DfT) has provided Ronnie Cohen  with an account of recent progress on the introduction of metric signs on UK roads.

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Posted in Road signs, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

DfT expects drivers to be familiar with metres and that’s official

Posted on 2017-06-22 by ronniec

Ronnie Cohen reports on his recent correspondence with the UK Department for Transport (DfT).

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Posted in Road signs, Transport | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

MOTD writes metric but speaks imperial

Posted on 2017-06-08 by ronniec

At last, the General Election campaign is over. And now, as we wait for the results,  Ronnie Cohen looks at something completely different: Match of the Day. Or is it?

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Posted in Media, Sport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments