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We should get rid of time zones entirely. They cause problems to no end while providing no real benefit. People would get used to the fact that the sun usually

We should get rid of time zones entirely. They cause problems to no end while providing no real benefit. People would get used to the fact that the sun usually rises at 11PM in New Delhi, for example.

cnu 13y ago
And if I am travelling from New Delhi to London, how would I know/sync what time the sun rises/sets?
- arjie 13y ago
  Oh, that's easy: the sun never sets on the British empire. Seriously, though, time zones do not help with that. The sun sets at nine in the evening in Leicester in July. Can't be helped, the length of the day is different.
- jlgreco 13y ago
  Trying to use timezones to figure out what the sun is doing is already an exercise in futility: http://www.daylightmap.com/index.php http://www.daylightmap.com/index.php The earth's axis is tilted so in addition to needing to know the timezone and the date in a solar sense, you also need to know the latitude and need to be able to combine those three things in your head... in practice you just look it up instead.
- mikeash 13y ago
  How do you know now? Time zone info doesn't just pop into your head. You have to look that up too, or at least receive it somehow. Sunrise data could be obtained the same way. The difference being, of course, that you wouldn't need to look up anything that didn't care about the sun, while time zone info needs to be known to make sense of any time.
weinzierl 13y ago
Getting rid of leap seconds and summer time, that would do it for me. BTW China has only one time zone, so they are kind of practicing what you suggest.
maxerickson 13y ago
Getting rid of time zones but keeping AM and PM would be pretty silly. (not much of a point there, but somewhat instructive as to just how easy it would be to get used to it...)
untog 13y ago
Never, ever going to happen. Who gets to keep the "right" time? How could it ever be fair? In fact, I think the general level of confusion and annoyance at a change like that far outweighs the annoyance of dealing with time zones.
- DannoHung 13y ago
  I'd be happy with just locking geographies to a 1 hour offset and getting rid of DST.
- joelthelion 13y ago
  You mean a one time cost "far outweighs" the perpetual annoyance of time zones?
  - untog 13y ago
    Right now we all know when people when the sun rises and when people wake up in every country, because of local time. We'd have to remember that the Indian office doesn't open till 11pm- how is that any different from just remembering a time zone? Most people in the world don't ever leave their time zone, so why should we get to inflict these changes on them because we're bored with programming them?

cnu 13y ago

And if I am travelling from New Delhi to London, how would I know/sync what time the sun rises/sets?

arjie 13y ago
Oh, that's easy: the sun never sets on the British empire. Seriously, though, time zones do not help with that. The sun sets at nine in the evening in Leicester in July. Can't be helped, the length of the day is different.
jlgreco 13y ago
Trying to use timezones to figure out what the sun is doing is already an exercise in futility: http://www.daylightmap.com/index.php http://www.daylightmap.com/index.php The earth's axis is tilted so in addition to needing to know the timezone and the date in a solar sense, you also need to know the latitude and need to be able to combine those three things in your head... in practice you just look it up instead.
mikeash 13y ago
How do you know now? Time zone info doesn't just pop into your head. You have to look that up too, or at least receive it somehow. Sunrise data could be obtained the same way. The difference being, of course, that you wouldn't need to look up anything that didn't care about the sun, while time zone info needs to be known to make sense of any time.

weinzierl 13y ago

Getting rid of leap seconds and summer time, that would do it for me. BTW China has only one time zone, so they are kind of practicing what you suggest.

maxerickson 13y ago

Getting rid of time zones but keeping AM and PM would be pretty silly. (not much of a point there, but somewhat instructive as to just how easy it would be to get used to it...)

untog 13y ago

Never, ever going to happen. Who gets to keep the "right" time? How could it ever be fair? In fact, I think the general level of confusion and annoyance at a change like that far outweighs the annoyance of dealing with time zones.

DannoHung 13y ago
I'd be happy with just locking geographies to a 1 hour offset and getting rid of DST.
joelthelion 13y ago
You mean a one time cost "far outweighs" the perpetual annoyance of time zones?
- untog 13y ago
  Right now we all know when people when the sun rises and when people wake up in every country, because of local time. We'd have to remember that the Indian office doesn't open till 11pm- how is that any different from just remembering a time zone? Most people in the world don't ever leave their time zone, so why should we get to inflict these changes on them because we're bored with programming them?