Thanks everyone who contributed to explaining the extent of ISO series papers sizes in the world. The reason for my question is to try to understand to what extent will the U.S. "go metric."
First and foremost, I will point out the obvious. The metric system is a way of measuring things. The metric system is does not include or specify metric products. Does "going metric" just mean we measure and specify things with metric units, or does it mean we adopt international standards for sizes of common products, like paper, food and beverages, tools, building materials, plumbing, and basically everything we ever buy or use? Will we opt for the bare-minimum approach, or try to really align ourselves with international standards? Obviously, the economic pressure to "go metric" is as much or more related to hard metric sized products than to what unit we measure them with. I would expect that eventually practically all consumer goods will be sold in hard-metric sizes (e.g., milk by the liter, bulk foods by the kg, lengths, volumes, heights, etc.) It also seems clear that manufacturing will adopt already-standard metric fastener sizes (screws, nuts, bolts, etc.) And certainly metric-sized tools will be needed for metric-sized parts. I would also expect the electronics industry to ultimately go hard-metric, except for the most common existing non-metric components and connectors. What about pipes, valves, hydraulics, and building materials? This one is hard to say. For example, plumbers will be repairing and maintaining existing systems for about a century, so a full set of inches parts will be available. I predict that plumbing will not convert to hard-metric, although I hope I'm wrong. What about paper? Perhaps most of us have documents printed on A4 paper collected from foreign travels, friends, or business associates. It's quite a pain since A4 paper doesn't really fit in American 3 ring binders, folders, or file cabinets. As I've pointed out before, NASA engineers draw metric drawings on metric sheet sizes. I think there are some significant advantages to switching to ISO series paper sizes, but (like plumbing) I predicted that the U.S. will not convert. Perhaps we will continue to use 8.5x11 inch paper, quoting sizes in cm or mm. However, if the rest of the world is really united in using standard paper sizes, then maybe, just maybe, the U.S. will convert, too. I hope so! John Le Lundi 15 Septembre 2003 19:45, Michael Payne a �crit : > I've lived in a number of countries, from memory both Kenya and South > Africa are exclusively A4 paper countries as are probably all countries in > Africa with the close connection all had with Europe. I've also lived in > the Middle East (UAE) where they use A4 and A3 size paper. Here in the US > many hotels seem to use neither Letter nor Legal size for bills, obviously > getting specially cut paper to their own size. Bell Atlantic (now Verizon) > used to use many sheets of very small paper, now they use some larger > proprietary size, still smaller than letter size, much to my annoyance. > I've found many companies in the US come out with odd paper sizes, which I > normally get as a bill or statement. I'm going to have to measure some and > see exactly how big they are. > > Michael Payne > > > [Original Message] > > From: John S. Ward <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > To: U.S. Metric Association <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > Date: 11/9/03 23:08:17 > > > > Subject: [USMA:26955] A4 paper outside of Europe & Australia? > > > > Hi, > > > > I've already gathered that A4 paper is ubiquitous in Europe and > > Australia, and > > > that "letter" is the standard in North America. > > > > Would those few folks on this list who are NOT from Europe, North > > America, or > > > Australia tell me if the ISO A series paper sizes (e.g., A4) are standard > > in > > > your countries? India? South America? Asia? Africa? Middle East? > > > > Thanks, > > > > John > > --- Michael Payne > --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] > --- EarthLink: The #1 provider of the Real Internet.
