So how do computers represent instants? They typically store an amount of time before or after a particular instant which is effectively an origin. Many systems

So how do computers represent instants? They typically store an amount of time before or after a particular instant which is effectively an origin. Many systems use the Unix epoch, which is the instant represented in the Gregorian calendar in UTC as midnight at the start of January 1st 1970. That doesn’t mean the epoch is inherently “in” UTC – the Unix epoch could equally well be defined as “the instant at which it was 7pm on December 31st 1969 in New York”. A thousand times yes. I see many developers confused by this. The Unix epoch is not inherently specific to UTC, it just happens to have a round date when described in that time zone. Seconds (or milliseconds) since the Unix epoch is a unit without timezone.