3 ms·
You're conflating two separate use cases. The point of the numerical-offset notation is exactly to denote a fixed point in time. For the birthday party example
by sltkr 5y ago
You're conflating two separate use cases. The point of the numerical-offset notation is exactly to denote a fixed point in time.
For the birthday party example: it's not a given that I want to reschedule it when the local time zone changes (maybe I want to meet before sundown so we can sit outside? in that case, I would want to adjust the local time, keeping the solar timethe same). Sometimes of course, it is desirable (think of the opening hours of a shop, for example), but that's a separate use case.
Similarly with online events involving international guests: if you move an event to keep the local time unchanged, this change might create conflicts on other people's calendars. It's not necessarily the desired outcome.
Another problem with including a time zone name is that not everybody has the same version of the time zone database. At worst, that means that different people will have different interpretations of which point in time is being described. At best, the result will only be eventually consistent.
- ethbr0 5y agoExactly. (Fixed objective time) -> (current subjective time) is a problem with enough nuances that you probably don't want your format making assumptions for you. Look up the Japanese calendar, if you want some fun: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_and_time_notation_in_Japan https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_and_time_notation_in_Ja...
- amenghra 5y agoRelated to Japanese time keeping, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_clock https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_clock is a fun read!
- gorgoiler 5y agoThe international online-meeting corner case is interesting but I think you’re off the mark for the most common use case for these kinds of human readable time stamps: the local event begins when the local calendar shows the given date, and the local wall clock shows that particular time. My birthday party begins next year on May 1st when both our Siberian clocks say it is 4pm.
- lmm 5y ago> The point of the numerical-offset notation is exactly to denote a fixed point in time. Then why support timezones at all? UTC-only is a much simpler way to denote fixed points in time; symbolic timezones are needed when you want to denote a human-friendly local timestamp. Numerical offsets are the worst of both worlds.