With the tend towards globalization, Americans have no choice but to interact a bit more with the world than even a couple of decades ago. With that interaction comes an appreciation for how other people do things. Granted, the majority still has no interest in leaving the continental US even for a trip to Canada, but I have yet to hear anyone gripe about metric when they come back from abroad. A coworker of mine recently remarked that he liked kilometers in Canada--they went by faster.
You're definitely right about the money. If it can't be shown to be beneficial to the bottom line, converting a business to metric is not even going to be considered. While companies that interface with foreign countries definitely have a reason to metricate, locally or nationally operating businesses don't. I won't even mention my utilities which couldn't be bothered to go from gallons of water or cubic feet of natural gas to liters and cubic meters, respectively. Naturally, my annual water report has all the analysis details in metric. When I flip to the section detailing the volumes of water pumped, it's back to gallons. Remek What we need is a way of spinning this so that it's not considered a
money loser, but rather a money maker. If metrication is proposed as something that will streamline business, make global trade easier, and ultimately help to increase profits, you'll see acceptance. Americans generally don't care about interaction with the rest of the world, because they simply don't *have* any interaction with the rest of the world. But when it comes to money, they listen.
