>It is much better to use terms that people can readily visualize. That's why they use imperial units. It's the New York Times, an American newspaper writing f

>It is much better to use terms that people can readily visualize. That's why they use imperial units. It's the New York Times, an American newspaper writing for an American audience. I'm pretty familiar with metric units but even I have a hard time with "one meter" until I remember it's the same as a yard. What's a kilometer? I don't know, but it's a half a mile to the coffee shop from my house. That's pretty easy for me to visualize. What I absolutely cannot visualize is how big the Empire State Building is. Absolutely terrible comparison, IMO. I have no idea how big the Empire State Building is. But I know how much a gallon is, and my car weighs two tons, so that's pretty easy.