4 ms·

But why woukd Americans care if the entire world uses the same units of weight and distance?

• StavrosK 10y ago
  Why would the world care if Americans are using a different unit?
  • jessaustin 10y ago
    Why, indeed. My impression is that you are European. Do you care which system(s) we use, and if so, why?
    • StavrosK 10y ago
      I don't care which systems you use, unless I have to write an app that works everywhere, in which case I have to make it work one way for the whole world and another for the US and Liberia.
      • jessaustin 10y ago
        First, TFA illustrates that this isn't really a requirement, at least for some apps. Second, L11n for different locales is an unavoidable aspect of app production. If it's difficult to use measures that are intelligible to users, it's probably difficult to make their lives better in other ways too. This seems different than the sky-is-falling metric appeals we see from time to time.
        • StavrosK 10y ago
          "Requirement" is relative. People will definitely prefer their own units to others. Localization has to be done, sure. That doesn't mean it's binary, that you either localize or you don't. The more things you have to localize, the more effort it is, and that's why standards are good. I don't agree with "if it's hard for you to spend time on things that aren't necessary, it will be hard to spend time on things that are necessary, too". I think it's objective that the fewer changes you have to do because of arbitrary legacy, the better it is. It would be easier to reach everyone if we all spoke the same language, had the same culture, used the same units, etc. It's hard to teach everyone the same language, but it's less hard to agree on a system of units. Almost everyone else has done it.