You don't need two companies obviously, you need 2 lines (just as you need for a 1mm and a 2mm drill). Really, there is nothing magic about metric units, they are just better laid out and easier to work with.

The order of the exponents are immaterial. You can just add them up. Basic math, anyone with basic schooling should be able to do it.

You never published the imperial volume calculation, but even if a few can do that calculation in the head, there are a lot of intelligent Americans who (at least when asked) cannot. Any intelligent European could do the volume calculation I did in metric --- not the multiplication, but the unit conversion.

A cubic meter does not contain 1000 gallons, but suspect that was a typo.

I listed a number of advantages. What you describe above is the disadvantage of maintaining the archaic systems.

I have, btw, never seen an imperial or a metric screwdriver. They tend to be numbered for size like shoes.

I am also pretty sure I never mentioned Burma?

I intentionally mixed the units to show how easy it is to convert. You don't really need to them all to be common, you can just multiply and then adjust the exponent at the end. In this case, 1.7*85*70=10115, and the exponents are (in order (0-2-2=-4). Since I wanted liters, I need -3, thus the result is 1011.5L. See how easy it is? And I even intentionally chose the odd "liter" system, which is a bit sideways being another name for dm^3. Now try to go through the same calculation in the imperial case, and you can see how easy it would be to make a mistake, comparatively.

I do not understand what you are saying about manufacturing. I understand that doing a little at the time is a, eh, *challenge* to do cost-effectively, as do most people.

I did not want to come across as mocking, and I am sorry that you read me so. I just wanted to illustrate a problem with the currently prevalent unit system. I understand from the answers that I get that this is a sore spot, so let me be absolutely clear that this is matter decided solely by Americans. I'm just dishing out free advice.

As for the rounding, sure, and that is why I said approximately. Often, approximate is good enough; otherwise there is an obvious though somewhat work intensive way to measure the real value.

Hehe. Your signature tells me that no argument will ever sway you, so let me tell you a true story. I once asked an American here on /.: Given a bath tub about 1.8 yards long, 30 inches wide and 25 inches deep, how would you calculate the approximate volume (in gallons, presumably). The answer was: I wouldn't. That answer surprised me. Compare to metric: A bath tub about 1.7 meters x 85cm x 70cm = (The exact measurements are probably not the same). Same calculation is trivial, yielding about 1000 liters. Sure, you might do the same with a calculator, but then you have to remember all those conversion factors --- leading to more errors. That's value right there. It wasn't so long ago that a expensive satelite was lost to these kinds of errors.

I agree, though, that people resistance to change will make this hard to do, as those people who know the archaic but not the metric system so will protest and come up with ridiculous costs such as "we will have to replace everything". Sure you will, but not at once.. replace things when they break.

Of course, it is all up to you. After all, it is you who bear the cost. E.g, I prefer German beer equipment to U.S ditto, partly because the units are metric.

While I agree that changing the functionality of a library function underneath users in a non-backward-compatible way is bad, this has nothing to do with monkey-patching. What you describe would be the same in any language supporting library function, even if it was named "char* camelize(const char* input);" and written in C.

Actually,I believe you can do exactly this with tools like oprofile. But of course, if it was not written in Java you wouldn't need 10 seconds, would you? ;)

Indeed. All Java needs is a way to handle general resources (e.g. file handles) in a sane way, ditch the sillier C syntax relics (e.g. case fall-through), ditch some of the sillier introduced syntax wrinkles (like package private default), get support for function(al)s, typing, inheritance, static polymorphism and then we are getting there except for the stuff I forgot ;)

Ah. I did wonder why all Blueray players are so freaking slow and uncomfortable to use. Thanks for clearing that up!

Don't know what you consider compelling, but off the bat I can see these advantages:

1. No need to specially produce measurements goods for the U.S market, leading to cheaper goods
2. Familiarity with metric units will help students interested in a scientific career
3. everyday calculations would be easier to handle
4. Exporting goods would be cheaper, since documentation wouldn't need to be redone in metric units to satify customs.

I do note that much the same could be said for adopting English as a national language for this country.

Calculation would show that "forever" is somewhat about 1000 years, so I don't expect a huge balooning effect from this. But yeah, technically you could have the same rule as above and then use the deficit rules for all babies.

I especially remember Severance: Blade of darkness. I have tried it in windows and wine to no avail.