TIL about Swatch Internet Time, a decimal time system that has no time zones.
TIL about Swatch Internet Time, a decimal time system that has no time zones.
I feel that this is what we should be using instead of the current illogical time system.
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It's stupid to remove timezone.
Why?
No it's not. Time zones are a source of incredible confusion for programmers and are the cause of countless computer bugs that affect billions of people.
If we all used UTC time, you'd get used to it. You'd simply get up at xx:00 and have lunch at yy:00, etc. The numbers we use now (like 6 or 12) are completely arbitrary. You would get used to your day cycle using different numbers and the next generation would think literally nothing of it.
It would be a mess talking to anyone about time where you do not live.
Say that you wake up at 06:00, everyone understands. Remove all time zones and now you wake up at 14:53. Anyone not native to your location would have no clue where in the sky the sun is relative to you and what that actually means for your day.
Would 14:53 for you post removal be compared to 06:00 or 09:00 pre removal? What if oyu are porned post removal and do not have the frame of reference for the old system. How would you go about it then?
I can see the merit in keeping time zones.
Could you imagine traveling without time zones? It would be actual hell.
Normally you wake up at 1300, but then you travel to japan, you don't know when they wake up. So maybe you ask the hotel staff or maybe people will start putting signs up "Japan wakes up at 0300". I mean it's cool you don't need to change your watch or wait for your phone time to update when the plane lands, but how do you know when lunch is? When do you go to sleep? If a meeting you're having is at 1000, is that way late in the day meeting? Or is that a super early meeting and maybe you should get to bed early the night before. You would have no clue unless you do it on the regular.
Now, you could just download an app that tells you what time it is where you're at currently relative to what you normally use (so in Japan while they think it's 0300, your phone says 1300) so this would make these way easier for you since all the times are just normal. Every time you move around you just tell the app where you're at and it adjusts the time is displays annnndddd......oh wait I just re-invited time zones.
I get your logic but no amount of bugs will ever be enough to justify making the entire world change their idea of time.
I mean
The world has done it before, several times.
Sure, OK. Changing standards has never ever happened before.
So because programmers are lazy and stupid we should change how people live?
Why?
Their value is so that we all can imagine what the sky looks like when we say "seven am".
But why is that important?
Because it's what make the time have a meaning. The time when you eat, when you go to sleep or wake up, when you go to work,...
In fact, you're looking at it the wrong way. The time is localised because that's how it make sense for people. And that's how it make sense for physics too. Relativity means each place has its own time.
The question should be why do you want to change this?
I'd be with you if they were static - but the current situation of timezones that change regularly is a nightmare.
Are you talking about winter time vs summer time? Then it's a whole other matter, completely irrelevant to timezones.
No, I'm talking about timezones themselves changing. Countries regularly change details about timezones.
That's still not a technical problem.
- How is it not a technical problem? It sure as hell has been a problem for me more than once when implementing things, especially once timezone definitions between two systems drift apart.
- Why does it matter whether it's a technical problem? Neither you nor I have been talking about technical problems thus far.
Solving technical problem is what an engineer does. Asking people to do things differently so that the engineer doesn't have to solve the problem is what exactly?
In that case, why don't we switch up timezones every day? Make it even harder for engineers. More problems = more technical solutions, right?
I don't see how your point makes any sense.
Timezone make sense because it makes time mean something in real life. Midday is the time when you lunch, and the middle of the day. 7 or 8 pm is the evening, you get your dinner. Etc. Time is a tool used by people because it's useful.
Now you are an engineer and you need to deal with timezones. Well, fucking do your job I'd say.
The problem with programmer is that they always try to change user habits rather than simply doing their job.
Did I say we should remove timezones? What are you arguing against?