There are only three countries in the world that do not use the metric system:
- USA
- Liberia
- Myanmar
Please:
1) Default profile height and weight units to metric, and allow display localization to pounds, feet, and inches for residents of those three rogue states
2) Allow specifying units when entering data, so that one needn't perform conversion from source units
Seems like this should be based on the location of Geni users, not some world measure for countries barely connected. If 60% of users live in the US, then default to the Standard system. If 60% live in Europe, then default to the metric system. Better yet, default the measure to that users locality. So for you it defaults to metric, and for me it defaults to standard (not only in adding info, but viewing it as well).
Better yet, default the measure to that users locality. So for you it defaults to metric, and for me it defaults to the Standard system (not only in adding info, but viewing it as well).
I support this solution.
The UK is not fully metric, nor is Canada
Jeff, I think your idea is not the best possible implementation of this request. Nor Philip, for the matter.
Geni should add a (relative simple) preference in the account settings, where the user chooses if he wants to use imperial or metric units, then all fields containing any measurement (mainly height, of course) is displayed accordingly. This way, if one user has a tree that span different countries, such as Canada, US, and Mexico, for example, all user would see all values in the preferred (by the user, that is) system.
after implementing any solution - a translation from metric to inch is nneeded so any one can view the data in hos own units
hos=his
Like others, I support a preferred display solution. And the system should, of could, automatically convert the numbers for users, rather than anyone trying to calculate on their own.
Imperial british metrics are so last millenium... So imprecise, so complicated to use... Just countries colonized by England still insist to use them. Mexico is not one of them. Mexico and the rest of the world use oficially the international standard metrics system. Geni could have the option between the systems ages ago. It's so ridiiculousy easy to implement.
That makes perfect sense as long as any user can have the units displayed per locality or individual preference.
Incidentally, the US is on the metric system, but not completely. The Metric System is the only one that the US Congress has specifically sanctioned for trade and protected under US law. That happened in 1866, and according to that law, "no contract or dealing, or pleading in any court, shall be deemed invalid or liable to objection because the weights or measures expressed or referred to therein are weights or measures of the metric system." Many things are required to be expressed in metric either solely or in conjunction with the customary system. For example, nutrition information on food products is required and must be in metric. The weights of food and other packaged goods sold by weight must be presented in metric, although the customary weight will appear also. Relatively small measurements for just about anything are likely to be expressed im metric units, such as quantities that would be expressed in tens of milligrams or less.
Science classes use the metric system and all school children are taught it from a young age. All medication is measured using the metric system, with the exception of traditional (herbal) medicine, but even cannabis is sold in grams for units under an ounce. So are other "street drugs" such as cocaine, so it's far from a state mandate. When children are born, their height and weight will be noted in metric and that will appear on hospital records. I don't know if that practice is consistent all over the US, but was the case when my children were born decades ago.
There are some exceptions, such as with distances. Travel distances and speed limits are expressed in miles and miles per hour, but car speedometers always show the metric equivalent and have done so for so long that it's rare to find a car that doesn't show things in metric. For the most part, other units are used because they are customary or traditional, not because they are mandated or "standard." Even customary units themselves are defined based on the metric system. For example, the yard is 0.9144 meters by definition. The meter is 1.0936... yards by calculation, not by definition.
If everything is stored in Si units, then it's easy to convert to US customary units since they are defined as precise multiples of Si units.
We strongly support the use of Metric - and also European date format. There is a lot of confusion otherwise.
