3 ms·

You could use a calendar that is aware of timezones, and then you and your contact both see the meeting time as local time rather than someone else's timezone.

You could use a calendar that is aware of timezones, and then you and your contact both see the meeting time as local time rather than someone else's timezone. Without timezones, each person attending the meeting has to do the mental calculation, "04:00UTC is 14:00 my time, so I'll actually be awake for that meeting, and will have to ensure I don't start anything big after lunch." And then you'll make mistakes "12:00? that's fine … oh, it's actually just after midnight my time". All these arguments about timezone math and "getting the shift the wrong direction" apply to "let's all use UTC". In fact if we all use UTC it makes the problem demonstrably worse: you now have to do the adjustment all the time. No longer does "6pm" mean "close to sunset" for most people. You have to keep a sunset/sunrise calculator with you at all times just so you can remember what time to set that alarm in order to be at the local office on time. Then when you travel between places that will used to have timezones you'll need to adjust your sunset/sunrise calculator. No longer can you simply set the alarm to go off at 6am local time. You're replacing a superficial problem with an actual one: everyone who doesn't live in the reference time locality will be living on bizarre time. So how about just using a calendar system that stores information in UTC but presents it in local time, and exchange calendar appointments with your colleagues using this calendaring system so nobody has to do the mental math when transcribing the appointment into their calendar? My calendar already does this. It's a solved problem, and changing the solution won't make the problem go away.

lmm 12y ago
> Without timezones, each person attending the meeting has to do the mental calculation, "04:00UTC is 14:00 my time, so I'll actually be awake for that meeting, and will have to ensure I don't start anything big after lunch." No you don't. The whole point is there's no "14:00 my time". You just work from 23:00UTC to 08:00UTC and take your lunch at 02:00UTC. All your clocks are UTC. > No longer does "6pm" mean "close to sunset" for most people. You have to keep a sunset/sunrise calculator with you at all times just so you can remember what time to set that alarm in order to be at the local office on time. Then when you travel between places that will used to have timezones you'll need to adjust your sunset/sunrise calculator. No longer can you simply set the alarm to go off at 6am local time. True, it makes life harder for people who are physically travelling to a different office every week. But how many is that, compared to the number of people who need to arrange a phone/video call with someone in a different office? And that ratio is only going to push further. > You're replacing a superficial problem with an actual one: everyone who doesn't live in the reference time locality will be living on bizarre time. What's the problem? You get up at 01:00, the shops open at 03:00, you go to bed at 19:00 - so what? Ask anyone who lives in Vladivostok.
kybernetikos 12y ago
> No longer does "6pm" mean "close to sunset" for most people. You have to keep a sunset/sunrise calculator with you at all times just so you can remember what time to set that alarm in order to be at the local office on time. My one-time-to-rule-them-all does in fact include a sunset/sunrise calculator, which it draws onto the face based on geolocation. http://kybernetikos.github.io/UIT http://kybernetikos.github.io/UIT

lmm 12y ago

> Without timezones, each person attending the meeting has to do the mental calculation, "04:00UTC is 14:00 my time, so I'll actually be awake for that meeting, and will have to ensure I don't start anything big after lunch." No you don't. The whole point is there's no "14:00 my time". You just work from 23:00UTC to 08:00UTC and take your lunch at 02:00UTC. All your clocks are UTC. > No longer does "6pm" mean "close to sunset" for most people. You have to keep a sunset/sunrise calculator with you at all times just so you can remember what time to set that alarm in order to be at the local office on time. Then when you travel between places that will used to have timezones you'll need to adjust your sunset/sunrise calculator. No longer can you simply set the alarm to go off at 6am local time. True, it makes life harder for people who are physically travelling to a different office every week. But how many is that, compared to the number of people who need to arrange a phone/video call with someone in a different office? And that ratio is only going to push further. > You're replacing a superficial problem with an actual one: everyone who doesn't live in the reference time locality will be living on bizarre time. What's the problem? You get up at 01:00, the shops open at 03:00, you go to bed at 19:00 - so what? Ask anyone who lives in Vladivostok.

kybernetikos 12y ago

> No longer does "6pm" mean "close to sunset" for most people. You have to keep a sunset/sunrise calculator with you at all times just so you can remember what time to set that alarm in order to be at the local office on time. My one-time-to-rule-them-all does in fact include a sunset/sunrise calculator, which it draws onto the face based on geolocation. http://kybernetikos.github.io/UIT http://kybernetikos.github.io/UIT