In Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett had his man keeping the rod locked in a stone shed. Careful with it, they were. Trouble was, it wasn't quite the same length as the rod in the next town. Then there's time and the railway.
The world will have to be divided up metrically one day. Charts will all be on iPad type things, and correct for curvature as one sweeps the locations. Coming from the days of ink pens and curved localizer tracks, I welcome the technology.
Mind you, Miles per Gallon should be absolved from all requirements governing change.