The word "imprecise" is also factually incorrect. AFAIK, all Imperial units are now defined in metric. An inch is not "approximately" 2.54 centimeters, it is defined to be 2.54 centimeters, or, if you prefer, 2.540000000000... centimeters. A pound is defined as 0.45359237 kilograms.
It may be very precise specification of a value that is unpleasant and hard to work with, but there is no more and no less precision in the Imperial system than there is in the metric system, because technically Imperial is now just a flavor of metric. In that sense, we are metric already. This is definitely not the sense that people mean, but it is not entirely invalid, either.
Land surveyor here. I understand the issues in play here deeply. Field calcs, just to name one thing, would be greatly eased by metric. But here's the thing: you can't make an old surveyor think in metric. The way I visualise distance is Imperial. This is deeply ingrained.
Only way to retrain is to either have the young generation abandon the old way, or to have the old guard exercise flexibility and neuroplasticity. You can change habits, but it takes effort and commitment.
I say that, and I still stick to my Vim and won't use Emacs keybindings :-D
The word "imprecise" is also factually incorrect. AFAIK, all Imperial units are now defined in metric. An inch is not "approximately" 2.54 centimeters, it is defined to be 2.54 centimeters, or, if you prefer, 2.540000000000... centimeters. A pound is defined as 0.45359237 kilograms.
It may be very precise specification of a value that is unpleasant and hard to work with, but there is no more and no less precision in the Imperial system than there is in the metric system, because technically Imperial is now just a flavor of metric. In that sense, we are metric already. This is definitely not the sense that people mean, but it is not entirely invalid, either.