TO: Margie, at AudiTalk:
You recently wrote to Michael Payne, a colleague of mine, who had
written you inquiring about finding the specifications of Audi
automobiles in metric measures. I was astonished by error of fact in
the first part of your response (below) which Michael shared with me.
In most countries the specifications are indeed in metric measure.
However, that is not the official system of the United States, and
therefore the U.S.A. website uses the system of the country it
serves.
The metric system IS INDEED an official system of weights and
measures for the United States. Congress passed the Metric Conversion
Act of 1975 and the metric sections of the Omnibus Trade and
Competitiveness Act of 1988, both of which state that "the SI metric
system is the preferred system of weights and measures for trade and
commerce in the US". Congress passed these laws and, under the
Constitution of the United States, Congress has the sole authority to
establish a system of weights and measures.
The statement on your website that Audi "uses the system of the
country it serve" can be defended, I suppose, because (unfortunately,
in my opinion) the Congress did not put the teeth into those laws
that would be necessary to move the country forward more rapidly in
its metrication efforts. However, it IS the law, and one would hope
that an international company like Audi would be clever enough to see
the reason why providing metric data in your automobile information
would be good business and good citizenship in the US.
Here are some of the reasons:
There is a small but growing number of people in the US who prefer to
do business in metric, because it is an easier system to work with.
there is a somewhat large segment of the population who at least are
familiar with metric although they do not routinely use it. Many of
those would welcome the inclusion of metric data so they could learn
it better and eventually use it regularly. The US has declared that
metric is to be preferred. By using it in your data, you make it
easier for people who recognize the benefits of metrication to begin
becoming familiar with it. This would especially apply to students
young and old who learn metric in school but presently don't retain
it well because of limited exposure to it in the market place such as
your web site. Finally, an international business such as yours
could certainly save money by using the same system of measurement in
the US as is used virtually every place else in the world. Not only
would dual labeling be eliminated, but the difficulty of
communication between departments in different countries would be
reduced. I would also think that Audi would have enough civic
responsibility that they would find that introducing their customers
to metric and helping them learn it would be a positive effect on
their community.
Finally, for those Americans who currently choose not to use metric,
if you are already providing them with specs in olde English units,
and you have the same information in metric units for your foreign
operations, it would seem easy to provide the metric data for all the
reason above and still give the reluctant ones their old familiar
inches and pounds. If the profess not to want metric, the may refer
to the olde English parts list and ignore the metric.
I hope you will reconsider your rather blunt dismissal of my
colleague's suggestion that metric information be provided.
Regards,
Bill Hooper
Fernandina Beach, Florida, USA
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Make It Simple; Make It Metric!
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