3 ms·
One thing that comes up every time this is discussed is that it has different impacts on people depending on their latitude. A solution that does not come up al
by Zak 6y ago
One thing that comes up every time this is discussed is that it has different impacts on people depending on their latitude. A solution that does not come up all that often is adding latitude-based time zones, and I'd be interested to read some thoughts on it from the HN community.
Edit: as this was ambiguous to at least one commenter, I'm not proposing replacing the current longitude-based time zones, but splitting them or shifting their boundaries based on latitude.
- Ensorceled 6y agoSo London, England would be in the same timezone as Moosenee, Canada and Irkutsk, Russia? EDIT: This checkerboard would be very difficult to deal with. Also, people in northern or southern latitudes are used to extremes in day lengths. But, fundamentally, timezones are so that "noon" is about when the sun is overhead for you. People at the same longitude still have the same noontime regardless of when the sun rises or sets.
- ogre_codes 6y agoNot the above poster, but I suspect they were referring to the fact that in higher latitudes day lengths are affected much more by seasonal swings than areas closer to the equator. So the reasons for having DST to begin with becomes more exaggerated at those latitudes.
- Ensorceled 6y agoI know, I live in Canada. I'm trying to figure out what they are proposing.
- ogre_codes 6y agoNot entirely sure what that exactly that would mean either.
- Zak 6y agoNo, but Moosonee, Canada might be in a different time zone from Key West, FL (they are currently in the same time zone).
- oblio 6y agoI think you're misunderstanding his proposal. He's not advocating for <<getting rid>> of longitudinal timezones, he's proposing <<adding>> latitudinal timezones. Timezones now are kind of long lines from pole to pole, he wants them to be more like checkerboards. He does have a point, the same timezone that's ok at the Equator makes for kind of awkward periods of the day around the 50th meridian.
- ogre_codes 6y agoWhen I moved to Oregon I was a little surprised at how long the evenings were in the summer time and commensurate shortening of the day in the winter, but it’s only about 20 minutes less light in the morning at the worst part of the year.
- madcaptenor 6y agoIt seems like if you let small enough geographical areas decide their own time zones, this should happen naturally. For example I could imagine Scotland and England choosing different time zones because Scotland, which is further north, might be particularly interested in not having winter sunrises be too late.
- trashface 6y agoAs a (former) programmer, the idea of changing to latitude based time zones in every current software package in existence gives me nightmares. But if you are looking for "Basic Jobs for Programmers" policymaking, it would do the trick.