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So we all shift to a single glorious time zone to solve all the author's pains. You still need to remember "zones". You work in NY and propose a meeting at 130
by parfe 12y ago
So we all shift to a single glorious time zone to solve all the author's pains. You still need to remember "zones".
You work in NY and propose a meeting at 1300 GMT? You still need to remember how far ahead London is, how far behind California is. Want to call your cousin in Tokyo? You still need to know when she's likely to be awake. Heading to a vacation and want someone to pick you up from the airport? You need to know if your flight lands in the middle of the night or while your ride is at work.
Sure, you could divide the world up into 24 zones and call it a day. Then people still face the same problem of a strong dividing line separating suburbs and cities. Or a country split between two or three zones when it really only needs one. And then you realize, as a self centered programmer, people aren't robots and local time makes sense for 99.9% of peoples' lives.
- lmm 12y ago> You work in NY and propose a meeting at 1300 GMT? You still need to remember how far ahead London is, how far behind California is. But it's a lot easier to see when the appropriate time is if you know London works 8am-4pm GMT and California works 4pm-12am GMT, than trying to remember that they're three hours behind and calculate it every time. > Heading to a vacation and want someone to pick you up from the airport? You need to know if your flight lands in the middle of the night or while your ride is at work. If you're talking to them they can presumably tell you. Again, much easier if they know what time they sleep in GMT than if you have to calculate it afresh for each conversation. > And then you realize, as a self centered programmer, people aren't robots and local time makes sense for 99.9% of peoples' lives. People in eastern Russia, or western China, already work on a distinctly nonlocal time. It works well; the shops open at whatever time makes sense local time, but when you call someone across the country you can talk about times with them without getting confused.
- chrismcb 12y agoIt would probably be a bit simpler to remember that California is 8 hours behind London than to remember their work schedule is 4pm to midnight( oh wait, 12am is no longer midnight)
- cromulent 12y agoAgreed. What time is it in Bulgaria? 6.93 Earth Time? ummmm - should I call them? I was up until 17.50 last night, I'm not sure, man.