Metric vs. other measurement systems - chart

[jatt]

Despite the fact my schooling was done with the metric system, have had to become reasonably familiar with imperial -- dealing with "old people" (ducks a flying spanner). Then theres the fact that a fair bit of the caravan stuff I deal with is still in feet. So I ensure all the tape measures in the shop have both measurements on them.

Base 10 number system --- dunno how difficult that can be!!

Bought a block in town about 15 years ago -- damn thing was still measured in links (subset of chains apparently). Even my solicitor (well into his 60s back then) had to pull out the conversion tables for that one.

[mklotz]

...Bought a block in town about 15 years ago -- damn thing was still measured in links (subset of chains apparently). Even my solicitor (well into his 60s back then) had to pull out the conversion tables for that one.

The link is fascinating. The original area measure was an acre, the area of land a man could plow in a day, It was a furlong long, an eighth of a mile, and a chain wide, said chain being 66 feet long. When the need for a unit finer than a chain surfaced, some yokel decided to abandon the much touted inferial superiority of many divisors and divided it into one hundred links. It was a noble effort to introduce decimal simplicity but sadly left us with a link that is a comical 0.66 feet long - not 2/3 of a foot but close enough for folks who like to measure things with antiquated, outdated systems.

[Toolmaker51]

Despite the fact my schooling was done with the metric system, have had to become reasonably familiar with imperial -- dealing with "old people" (ducks a flying spanner). Then theres the fact that a fair bit of the caravan stuff I deal with is still in feet. So I ensure all the tape measures in the shop have both measurements on them.

Base 10 number system --- dunno how difficult that can be!!

Bought a block in town about 15 years ago -- damn thing was still measured in links (subset of chains apparently). Even my solicitor (well into his 60s back then) had to pull out the conversion tables for that one.

Aha; term "flying spanner" tells us which direction to aim..... JK of course.
I've been subject to practice of dual-dimensioning and conversion awhile. Like hemmjo states, there is room and application for either. I do little programming, conversational at that. In most instances, mm entries are [seem] less susceptible to keystroke errors.
I'd say being able to select via touch of a button is best of both worlds.