4 ms·

Time zones let you know if you're scheduling a meeting with someone in the middle of the night.

by windows2020 1y ago

nly 1y ago
It also enables common culture. If someone says they got up at 5am for a flight then it is widely understood that that is pretty early for a typical person, without having to explain as much in words. If someone says they didn't get home until late, you know they probably mean 9 to some small hour of the morning etc.
nomadygnt 1y ago
Yes! Whenever people say that we should have one timezone I always bring this up. Either you have to look up what time it is in another country or you have to look up what time of day it is. Either way you still have to look it up.
- nirvdrum 1y ago
  You may have already read it, but in case you haven’t, I think this post illustrates the challenges with a single timezone rather nicely: https://qntm.org/abolish https://qntm.org/abolish
- actinium226 1y ago
  Who are these people who say we should have one timezone?
  - School-Cotton 1y ago
    The author of the article we're commenting on, for example. And it's an idea that I see come up not too rarely on any post about time subtleties (time zones, leap seconds, etc.)
  - ianburrell 1y ago
    Every time time zones are discussed here, there is someone who thinks should abolish time zones and use UTC.
ItsHarper 1y ago
In fairness, that's not what they're arguing for. They're advocating using UTC for yourself, and since no one else does that you'll inevitably get good at conversions to other time zones.
- borsecplata 1y ago
  But... why? Out of boredom?
atmavatar 1y ago
Somewhat, but it does so poorly. If you're scheduling something with someone non-local to yourself, you need not only know their time zone, but you also need also consider their latitude/longitude and what time of year it is so you account for the potential use of daylight saving time and their current sunrise/sunset times. For example: if you schedule something at 7PM - is that daytime or nighttime? Well, if it's the first of October, and the person is in Kansas City, the answer is daytime. However, if they're in Phoenix, the answer is nighttime. And here's the kicker: the fact that Kansas City uses daylight saving time is irrelevant, as it would still be mostly light out even if you used standard time due to its higher latitude.
kevincox 1y ago
If they happen to work the "average" schedule for their location, and you know what location they will be in at the time of the meeting, and you don't mess up the conversion. But if you try to schedule a meeting with someone they will immediately know if the time is reasonable for them and let you know. Plus I don't see how it actually makes a difference, you just look up "what are business hours for $city" rather than "what time is it in $city".

Time zones let you know if you're scheduling a meeting with someone in the middle of the night.

nly 1y ago

It also enables common culture. If someone says they got up at 5am for a flight then it is widely understood that that is pretty early for a typical person, without having to explain as much in words. If someone says they didn't get home until late, you know they probably mean 9 to some small hour of the morning etc.

nomadygnt 1y ago

Yes! Whenever people say that we should have one timezone I always bring this up. Either you have to look up what time it is in another country or you have to look up what time of day it is. Either way you still have to look it up.

nirvdrum 1y ago
You may have already read it, but in case you haven’t, I think this post illustrates the challenges with a single timezone rather nicely: https://qntm.org/abolish https://qntm.org/abolish
actinium226 1y ago
Who are these people who say we should have one timezone?
- School-Cotton 1y ago
  The author of the article we're commenting on, for example. And it's an idea that I see come up not too rarely on any post about time subtleties (time zones, leap seconds, etc.)
- ianburrell 1y ago
  Every time time zones are discussed here, there is someone who thinks should abolish time zones and use UTC.

ItsHarper 1y ago

In fairness, that's not what they're arguing for. They're advocating using UTC for yourself, and since no one else does that you'll inevitably get good at conversions to other time zones.

borsecplata 1y ago
But... why? Out of boredom?

atmavatar 1y ago

Somewhat, but it does so poorly. If you're scheduling something with someone non-local to yourself, you need not only know their time zone, but you also need also consider their latitude/longitude and what time of year it is so you account for the potential use of daylight saving time and their current sunrise/sunset times. For example: if you schedule something at 7PM - is that daytime or nighttime? Well, if it's the first of October, and the person is in Kansas City, the answer is daytime. However, if they're in Phoenix, the answer is nighttime. And here's the kicker: the fact that Kansas City uses daylight saving time is irrelevant, as it would still be mostly light out even if you used standard time due to its higher latitude.

kevincox 1y ago

If they happen to work the "average" schedule for their location, and you know what location they will be in at the time of the meeting, and you don't mess up the conversion. But if you try to schedule a meeting with someone they will immediately know if the time is reasonable for them and let you know. Plus I don't see how it actually makes a difference, you just look up "what are business hours for $city" rather than "what time is it in $city".