Internet Time -- A new standard

While searching through some perl examples, I came across a conversion utility for Internet Time. Apparently, Swatch (the old goofy watch manufacturer, popular in the 80s) has come up with a new time standard they're calling Internet Time. Basically, they're removing all time zones but 1 which will be the International reference for Internet Time -- the Beil Mean Time (headquarters for Swatch International). The days are divided into 1000 time increments they're calling .beats. Each .beat is equivalent to 1 minute 26.4 seconds. The time is then stated in .beats with a unique syntax. For example, 3:30pm August 8th would be written

@897
09.08.2002

However, if you were to convert @897 09.08.2002 into standard time, it would be:

Sometime between 15:31:40 and 15:33:07 August 8th, 2002.

I think a new way to tell time would be kind of cool, but this seems woefully inaccurate. It would be nice to know that the time is the same everywhere, and there would be no need to convert anymore between time zones. Maybe they're planning to further subdivide that 1 minute 26.4 seconds into an additional 100 or 1000 increments so we could have time like:

@897.3421
09.08.2002

That might be a bit better. I dunno...Thought you all might get a kick out of it, anyway. :bigsmile:

Here's the link to their project: http://swatch.com/fs_index.php?haupt=itime

I read this post and now my head hurts...somebody call Swatch, find out who came up with this inane formula, and have him shot before Arthur Anderson hires him as a 'Creative Accounting Consultant'

GAH! I don't want to have to learn another time formula, I already have enough problems in my life as it is :p I would be so confused that I would never know what time it is. Right now my time telling method consists of roaming to the front of the building I work in to see if it's light outside or not. If it's light I stay at work, if it's dark I go home.

What time is dark in that forumla? ;)



This will go down just like the metric "conversion" in the US did. It will die a quiet death that no one will remember.





El Diablo

or before bush hires them.. just imagine the added impact they would have on america.. *winces*

Sounds like a cool new thing to learn multiplication and
division with...

(time in h+difference to Beil mean time in h)/24h*1000@

...and perhaps to keep your uncool friends more confused
than ever...

Friend: what time is it?
You: wait an @...

After two minutes of calculating
You: it's @697
Friend: ?!?

Swatch had been this idea 4 or 5 years ago. They have even created a serie of watch with this time numerotation. But it has never worked.

In theory the idea is great but nobody will learn a such system if he isn't obliged to do it.
See the USA (and GB), the international system is Kilometer but all americans I know use the mile (USA had even lost a satellite because a scientist has not convert miles in kilometers).

So... convince a lot of differents people all around the world to use this time system only because it's universal and could be more useable...

Yeah, this is old, but personally I don't see it being very useful or helpful in the near future. Besides, it still doesn't help (and in fact may make it much harder) the situation of dealing with time zones... Due to the spread of the 'net. No in-your-head-calculating-time-zone support = No Good.

I like the idea of Internet time, but I think it should still go in minutes, hours...etc

What do we do when we have a home-base on the moon?

I think that time should not be something to worry about on the internet. The internet is supposed to be realtime (I think), so that time really doesn't matter.

It might be better than telling a friend "Be on Tomorrow at the same time" when they live on Mars, and you're on Earth, due to difference in the planet's rotational speed... It might be useful, but there are easier ways to do this. Just say that at this moment, the Universe as a whole is at 8:30.01 PM, Sunday, August 11, year 2002.... Or something like that... You might work weird hours, etc., but it is probably better than having to compute a new formula for every new chunk or rock we land on.

-Tim_axe

Just think about the possibilities of manipulating time:
When your home-time is processed and displayed through the internet someone just has to click one button, enter a new value and the internet-time-clocks all over the world would display the new time. think about the possible dangers...

just a thought about this ;)

Quote:

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Originally posted here by KissCool
See the USA (and GB), the international system is Kilometer but all americans I know use the mile (USA had even lost a satellite because a scientist has not convert miles in kilometers).

---

errrrrm. actualy in the UK we use miles also...... surprised me really to findout that they used miles and not KM cause they use metric for everything else (except body weight which is measured in 'stones' and god knows where they came up with that one)

Quote:

---

Originally posted here by Sledge
Just think about the possibilities of manipulating time:
When your home-time is processed and displayed through the internet someone just has to click one button, enter a new value and the internet-time-clocks all over the world would display the new time. think about the possible dangers...

just a thought about this ;)

---

Hmm...good point, Sledge, but I think that if Internet time was adopted as a standard, they would have several time servers like they do now. A distributed network of servers each pinging away counting the .beats of the day. You'd probably have to change them all.

I think we should all move to the decimal-system for
counting time and I think IT would be a needed step
in that direction...

No more converting hours to seconds or days to minu-
tes in school, think about it.

hours, minutes and seconds were hard enough in my trig class... :rolleyes: haha thx for the info..

i remember hearing about this a few years ago...so far i havnt seen ne of these out