We comment on a letter and the reply recently published in Which?, the magazine of the Consumers Association.
Category: Technical
Deficits, the global measurement system and global trade
In this article, Ronnie Cohen looks at the deficits of some major economies and asks if apparent reluctance to use the global measurement system is a symptom of a wider problem – adapting to a changed world.
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A wrong turning that led British Leyland to a dead end
We reprint an article that was first published ten years ago and illustrates the risks of using a mix of metric and Imperial measures.
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Acres made easy
We look ahead to the 400th anniversary of an innovation that simplified the measurement of land area, initially in England and later in the UK, by introducing decimals.
Diaries, and a glimpse into the past
Many of us have probably bought a diary for 2018 recently. Ronnie Cohen takes a look at the conversion tables found at the front of many sold in the UK.
A case of dumbing down on measures for US audience
Amid the reports last year about the failure of consumer tests for the Galaxy S7 Active phone, one notable difference between the official use of the International Protection (a.k.a Ingress Protection) marks and the consumer reviews on an American website is the use of different measurement systems. Ronnie Cohen explains.
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Costs of supporting dual measures
Ronnie Cohen provides us with an example from his work of the additional costs that businesses face as a result of having to provide for dual measures. Imagine how much better off we might be if all such costs in the UK economy and throughout the world could be avoided.
No flight information please – we’re British
Ronnie Cohen wonders why at least one budget airline flying from the UK targets its flight information at continental and American passengers.
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Smart meters, or not?
Readers may have seen a recent TV programme that was highly critical of the energy smart meter “roll out”. Some of you may now be wondering why a nation that made a mess of the simple task of adopting a modern measurement system is now embarking on a complex and expensive technology project of questionable value.
The euro – decimal all ways
It has now been 15 years since the launch of euro notes and coins on 1 January 2002. While UKMA takes no position on the euro, the anniversary of the introduction of euro notes and coins gives an opportunity to emphasise the role of measurement in their production.
Metric Views 