i'm an american.
Sorry, I guess I should have said universal except for the United States.
Why are so many americans opposed to the metric system? The only primary numbering system taught in schools is base-10, so it's not like it's some weird foreign concept....
I mean no offense, I've just never discussed it before. And USA is one of only a handful of countries not using the metric system.
I'm certainly not opposed to the metric system. But I also know that there is a stack of patchwork government regulations which mandate Imperial measurements (sometimes, along with metric).
in the US, the metric system has been mandated since 1866 in the legal and commercial spheres:
http://ts.nist.gov/WeightsAndMeasures/Metric/upload/HR-596-Metric-Law-1866.pdf
[PDF ALERT]
i note that since NASA booted a mars landing, they've used metric exclusively. since 2007. not counting the odd, existing spacecraft put together with imperial wrenches.
i hate imperial measurement. i stopped thinking in it when i got my degree in physics, and i simply can't understand why it still exists.
feet, fer chrissakes: real goddamn FEET! and some bizarre number of grains of wheat to the inch. shit. my head hurts...