It's mostly used to eliminate the confusion between the long and short scale of numbers. Although no confusion should arise for Million, 2mmm is instantly recog

It's mostly used to eliminate the confusion between the long and short scale of numbers. Although no confusion should arise for Million, 2mmm is instantly recognised as 2 * 10 ^ 12, or 2 billion by Americans, or 2 milliard by Europeans. A side effect is that it forces people to think in powers of a thousand. Not so long ago a show interviewed people about the economic crisis, and the value of a trillion, and how much more it is than a million. Most people weren't even close, and believed a trillion = a thouand million. So I like the more scientific notation of 2mm, or 2mm mm, becuase it shows people instantly that 2mm (two million) and 2mm mm (two trillion) are mm -> a factor million apart.