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This article presents one approach to doing away with customary time zones. However, there are other approaches that aren’t so jarring in these ways, though may

by dfee 3y ago

This article presents one approach to doing away with customary time zones. However, there are other approaches that aren’t so jarring in these ways, though maybe in other ways, just as our current arbitrary convention is also jarring. All this to say, the article wasn’t persuasive. Another approach might be infinite time zones, which on a local level is deferential to local customs. For important times (like transactions), UTC still exists. But, for meeting at the pub, church or school a two second difference from your house isn’t meaningful. Probably each regional hub would recognize its own solar noon anyway. So still regional coordination, but smaller regions than 1-timezone China.

madeofpalk 3y ago
See also, one Australian town's insistence on UTC+08:45 despite not being recognised by state or federal governments https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTC%2B08:45 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTC%2B08:45
MenhirMike 3y ago
Isn't the infinite time zones thing basically how things used to work, until train schedules brought cities more in sync with each other in 1883? At least in the US, that is.
ianburrell 3y ago
Having lots of ad-hoc tine zones is worse than having a few standard ones. Every event has to specify the exact offset, and every attendee has to specify theirs. One big advantage of time zones is that large areas keep the same time and most commerce is inside time zones. If you mean local solar time, you need to realize that changes over short distances. At my latitude, one minute is 9 mi. I have coworkers that commute that far to office so they would have to keep track of home time and office time. Or they would be late to Zoom meetings.
- dfee 3y ago
  Well, lots of time zones being an infinite number of time zones in that thought experiment. You see, not every event has to specify the exact offset because in practice: 1. If you’ve got coworkers who are a minute late attending a meeting, no one cares. Or, they show up four minutes early instead of five. 2. This level of formality (keeping track of home and office time) is a ruse. A minute here or there is constantly lost or gained with traffic, tasks or luck. When that precision is needed, I’m sure your calendar + gps on your phone can give you the exact nanosecond you need to join the Zoom. For humans, time is relative to the individual. When absolute coordination is necessary, computers step in and nudge you along. Turns out they’re good at that.
  - ianburrell 3y ago
    The time difference grows over fairly small distances. If you go to nearby city, it can be 15 minutes difference. That is the difference of missing an event or shop being open. There are lots of things that are accurate to the minute. If you are a minute late, you miss your bus. Also, what time does the bus use? Does it change time as it moves or keep consistent time? The coordination basically requires computers. All watches need to have GPS. All computers need to have GPS. Every event requires someone to enter the official time/location. It would be impossible to accurately schedule anything over the phone. Local solar time wouldn't be for humans but for computers. Humans invented time zones because of the problem with local solar time for railroads. We much prefer consistent time zones for day-to-day.

by dfee 3y ago

madeofpalk 3y ago

See also, one Australian town's insistence on UTC+08:45 despite not being recognised by state or federal governments https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTC%2B08:45 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTC%2B08:45

MenhirMike 3y ago

Isn't the infinite time zones thing basically how things used to work, until train schedules brought cities more in sync with each other in 1883? At least in the US, that is.

ianburrell 3y ago

Having lots of ad-hoc tine zones is worse than having a few standard ones. Every event has to specify the exact offset, and every attendee has to specify theirs. One big advantage of time zones is that large areas keep the same time and most commerce is inside time zones. If you mean local solar time, you need to realize that changes over short distances. At my latitude, one minute is 9 mi. I have coworkers that commute that far to office so they would have to keep track of home time and office time. Or they would be late to Zoom meetings.

dfee 3y ago
Well, lots of time zones being an infinite number of time zones in that thought experiment. You see, not every event has to specify the exact offset because in practice: 1. If you’ve got coworkers who are a minute late attending a meeting, no one cares. Or, they show up four minutes early instead of five. 2. This level of formality (keeping track of home and office time) is a ruse. A minute here or there is constantly lost or gained with traffic, tasks or luck. When that precision is needed, I’m sure your calendar + gps on your phone can give you the exact nanosecond you need to join the Zoom. For humans, time is relative to the individual. When absolute coordination is necessary, computers step in and nudge you along. Turns out they’re good at that.
- ianburrell 3y ago
  The time difference grows over fairly small distances. If you go to nearby city, it can be 15 minutes difference. That is the difference of missing an event or shop being open. There are lots of things that are accurate to the minute. If you are a minute late, you miss your bus. Also, what time does the bus use? Does it change time as it moves or keep consistent time? The coordination basically requires computers. All watches need to have GPS. All computers need to have GPS. Every event requires someone to enter the official time/location. It would be impossible to accurately schedule anything over the phone. Local solar time wouldn't be for humans but for computers. Humans invented time zones because of the problem with local solar time for railroads. We much prefer consistent time zones for day-to-day.