4 ms·

>A lookup table for what? If everyone is living on the same time, what exactly are you looking up? In the context of the webpage where that is quoted, it mean

by jasode 3y ago

>A lookup table for what? If everyone is living on the same time, what exactly are you looking up? In the context of the webpage where that is quoted, it means looking up the typical activity for the time in that location. By avoiding the look up of time zones, you haven't really reduced complexity and only shifted it somewhere else because now you're looking up relevant "activity" windows for that location. You always have 2 components of a key-value dictionary in either system. (1) the "fixed" a familiar knowledge you have as a "key" and then (2) the lookup "value" - Timezones system: (1) fixed knowledge key is "I know people are awake doing school & business between ~8am to ~5pm and sleep ~9pm to ~6am" for entire globe --> (2) now lookup what timezone they're in : e.g. "California TZ is UTC-07:00" - no timezones : (1) I know the entire globe is on identical time --> (2) now lookup what numerical values correspond to "awake vs sleep time" in that part of the globe : e.g. "California school/business hours are ~3pm-12am UTC"

RestlessMind 3y ago
This is a very nice summary of what I was feeling but couldn't find words for. Those advocating for abolishing timezones are merely shifting one problem to another, without any obvious advantages which can overcome the obvious disadvantages.
- bluefirebrand 3y ago
  Things like "when do people start work in Brisbane" is not universal across all people in Brisbane, knowing "on average when do people start work in Brisbane" is not terribly useful Today, if you need to contact a business in Brisbane, you start by looking up their hours, then you convert timezones, then you plan your contact Without timezones, you no longer need the second step. Similarly if you are planning a meeting with someone in Brisban you can just say "Does tomorrow between 4 and 8 work for you", with no timezones involved Honestly seems like an obvious advantage to me
  - RestlessMind 3y ago
    But what about local Bisbanians? They have lived their whole life with a certain timetable. And now suddenly you want to impose a new timetable on them? For what benefit? So far, I used to think that people were joking when they advocated abolishing timezones. Now that it seems some are actually serious, then I have a serious question - how do you plan to convince the local population to adopt a completely new time? For example, I am in SFBA and if there is a vote to shift our time by 8hrs to align with UTC (global timezone), I would vote no. I don't see any benefit in shifting my day by 8hrs and instead of sleeping from 10 to 6, start sleeping from 6 to 2. Oh wait, or would it be 2 to 10? Ah nevermind, too complicated. Let's just continue my current lifestyle because the cost of switch is too high for no obvious benefit to me.
    - bluefirebrand 3y ago
      Somehow I think if your phone and computer updated automatically to the new timezone, and your boss told you what time to get to the office the next day, you'd somehow figure it out without much trouble. People do this every single day when they travel, and many places already do this twice a year with daylight saving time shifts It would feel weird for a while for people no doubt but times already are arbitrary anyways. Why does it matter if you sleep from 1-9 or 13-21?
      - RestlessMind 3y ago
        > you'd somehow figure it out without much trouble No it would still be a tremendous hassle. I have a much larger life than my phone, computer and boss. Like, kids - explaining to them the new time change and teaching a whole new schedule ("start bedtime routine at 4:30 instead of 8:30pm") alone would make me vote against this change. > Why does it matter if you sleep from 1-9 or 13-21? Because you haven't told me what's the benefit if I do that.

by jasode 3y ago

RestlessMind 3y ago

This is a very nice summary of what I was feeling but couldn't find words for. Those advocating for abolishing timezones are merely shifting one problem to another, without any obvious advantages which can overcome the obvious disadvantages.

bluefirebrand 3y ago
Things like "when do people start work in Brisbane" is not universal across all people in Brisbane, knowing "on average when do people start work in Brisbane" is not terribly useful Today, if you need to contact a business in Brisbane, you start by looking up their hours, then you convert timezones, then you plan your contact Without timezones, you no longer need the second step. Similarly if you are planning a meeting with someone in Brisban you can just say "Does tomorrow between 4 and 8 work for you", with no timezones involved Honestly seems like an obvious advantage to me
- RestlessMind 3y ago
  But what about local Bisbanians? They have lived their whole life with a certain timetable. And now suddenly you want to impose a new timetable on them? For what benefit? So far, I used to think that people were joking when they advocated abolishing timezones. Now that it seems some are actually serious, then I have a serious question - how do you plan to convince the local population to adopt a completely new time? For example, I am in SFBA and if there is a vote to shift our time by 8hrs to align with UTC (global timezone), I would vote no. I don't see any benefit in shifting my day by 8hrs and instead of sleeping from 10 to 6, start sleeping from 6 to 2. Oh wait, or would it be 2 to 10? Ah nevermind, too complicated. Let's just continue my current lifestyle because the cost of switch is too high for no obvious benefit to me.
  - bluefirebrand 3y ago
    Somehow I think if your phone and computer updated automatically to the new timezone, and your boss told you what time to get to the office the next day, you'd somehow figure it out without much trouble. People do this every single day when they travel, and many places already do this twice a year with daylight saving time shifts It would feel weird for a while for people no doubt but times already are arbitrary anyways. Why does it matter if you sleep from 1-9 or 13-21?
    - RestlessMind 3y ago
      > you'd somehow figure it out without much trouble No it would still be a tremendous hassle. I have a much larger life than my phone, computer and boss. Like, kids - explaining to them the new time change and teaching a whole new schedule ("start bedtime routine at 4:30 instead of 8:30pm") alone would make me vote against this change. > Why does it matter if you sleep from 1-9 or 13-21? Because you haven't told me what's the benefit if I do that.