In Britain and the U.S. there is an lot of people still set on using the imperial system of measurement. It is yet another case of the desire for tradition against globalization and standardization.

The Imperial units are an irregularly standardized system of units that have been used in the United Kingdom and its former colonies, including the Commonwealth countries. The Imperial system is also called the English system or the British system.

The metric system or International System of Units, is the most widely used system of units. It is used for everyday commerce in virtually every country of the world except the United States.

What is good about the imperial system

There has been many claims to why the imperial system should be around, but most are belief that are not backed by fact.

• Traditional weights and measures should be kept as part of the national heritage
• People already know the imperial system
• Some metric units are less convenient
• It could increase costs
• Involves rewriting English literature which in any case already uses many units strange to us today

What is good about the metric system.

• A much simpler system
• No conversions (only one unit for each quantity)
• No numbers to memorize (derived units are defined without numerical factors)
• No fractions (decimals only)
• No long rows of zeros (prefixes eliminate them)
• Only 30 individual units (compared to hundreds of traditional units)
• Easy to pronounce and write (short names; simple letter symbols)
• Based on natural standards (size of Earth, water, laws of physics)
• Coherent system (symbols can be manipulated algebraically)
• World standard (even traditional U.S. units are defined by it)
• The only nations other than the USA which remain officially non-metric are Liberia and Myanmar (Burma).

There is one main point that prevents the change from imperial system to the metric, understanding. There are a lot of people in all areas of all industries that want to preserve the way things were measured in the past. Some schools in the U.S. and other places do not teach enough metric measurements as their teachers are so used to using the imperial measurement.

People are opposed to change, even if it is for the better.