The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #104722   Message #2147916
Posted By: Bert
12-Sep-07 - 10:54 PM
Thread Name: BS: A kilo ain't a kilo any more
Subject: RE: BS: A kilo ain't a kilo any more
Nothing wrong with the Metric System --- You've got to be kidding. The metric system completely destroys the concept of units. In measurement for example you only get one unit - the metre. If you like you can move the decimal point but it doesn't change the number in any way, so you are stuck with the one dimension whether it is convenient or not.

Systems of units have been derived over centuries and were kept for their usefulness.

For example: one wouldn't choose to use yards (the nearest Imperial unit to a metre)if one were designing a keyboard, a reasonable designer would use inches.

When measuring a railway line miles and furlongs are used, because they are more convenient than yards.

In the metric system it is marginally easier to divide by ten (don't forget that anyone can use decimal fractions of any unit they like.) It gains that small advantage by making it impossible to divide by three.

As well as throwing away useful units it also throws away the whole thought process of using fractions with denominators different from ten.

I have seen designs produced using the metric system where it was plainly obvious that the designer couldn't divide by three.