4 ms·

The two situations where time zones are relevant is a very good observation, but I still think we should optimize for the more common case, which is communicati

• ronaldx 13y ago
  This wouldn't solve much of the communicating across timezones problem - although you may no longer have to look up the canonical time, you instead have to look up the solar time or local time convention (are they sleeping? are they at work?) So, it's better to keep the second problem ('what time is morning?') more accessible, since you need that in both cases.
  • tempestn 13y ago
    That's an excellent point. So really the disadvantages that I considered with respect to traveling apply to communication as well.
• steinnes 13y ago
  Exactly. The current use of timezones seems primarily designed to ease adjustment for those traveling between them. Work starts at 9 AM in region-X, you move to region-Y, adjust your time and work starts at the "same" time. Today I think however there are a lot more cases of cross-timezone communications, and a lot of people are telecommuting to work and various events. It may be time to move on and adjust to better support distance communication and telecommuting.
  • btilly 13y ago
    The other use of timezones is so obvious that you don't even see it. The national networks can advertise that a popular show comes on at 8 pm, and it will everywhere.
    • maxerickson 13y ago
      Except the Central time zone generally gets the same broadcast as the Eastern.