How about more time trivia then.
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If you are thinking, "Why didn't the French try this as well when they were working on the metric system?". They did, that is known as French Revolutionary Time. Between 1793–1800 they adopted decimal time, redesigning clocks and calendars. It did not stick. Here is why. They also redid the calendar, moving about all the holidays and introducing 10 day weeks.
This wasn't popular, not least because you got one rest day a week in a longer week and also because people do not like moving their holidays. But more than that perhaps is that it does not solve the same problems that metrification did. You see before the metric system measurements were different… everywhere.
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This wasn't popular, not least because you got one rest day a week in a longer week and also because people do not like moving their holidays. But more than that perhaps is that it does not solve the same problems that metrification did. You see before the metric system measurements were different… everywhere.
Not just between countries but sometimes between towns. Additionally you could even have different measurement systems for things that could be measured the same way, e.g. milk and wine used different systems. What the metric system did is replace lots of different systems with one unified and logical system. That is clearly better and yet even this had a bunch of push back because people do not like to change the systems they already know (just ask the Americans).
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Not just between countries but sometimes between towns. Additionally you could even have different measurement systems for things that could be measured the same way, e.g. milk and wine used different systems. What the metric system did is replace lots of different systems with one unified and logical system. That is clearly better and yet even this had a bunch of push back because people do not like to change the systems they already know (just ask the Americans).
For time, the 12-24 hour system was already standard though much of the world. The advantages that decimal offer do not compete with the idea of throwing away a system that absolutely everyone already uses. In addition if you change a unit of length you just need to scratch a few new notches on your measuring stick. Maybe you also need to make or buy a new jug to measure volumes of wine.
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For time, the 12-24 hour system was already standard though much of the world. The advantages that decimal offer do not compete with the idea of throwing away a system that absolutely everyone already uses. In addition if you change a unit of length you just need to scratch a few new notches on your measuring stick. Maybe you also need to make or buy a new jug to measure volumes of wine.
But for time, you need to replace clocks and clocks (particularly big town clocks) were really expensive. Actually clocks and watches still are expensive (Casio, Skmei and Sanda fans might disagree).
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But for time, you need to replace clocks and clocks (particularly big town clocks) were really expensive. Actually clocks and watches still are expensive (Casio, Skmei and Sanda fans might disagree).
It's even more unlikely to happen in the future because the current standard of time is now further embedded into modern society. Most of the other metric measurements are now redefined to be based on the standard second. For example the metre is defined as the distance light travels in a vacuum in ¹⁄₂₉₉₇₉₂₄₅₈ of a second.
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It's even more unlikely to happen in the future because the current standard of time is now further embedded into modern society. Most of the other metric measurements are now redefined to be based on the standard second. For example the metre is defined as the distance light travels in a vacuum in ¹⁄₂₉₉₇₉₂₄₅₈ of a second.
And standard time is used for all kinds of stuff on the internet (that you do not want to break) and global positioning systems (that you also do not want to break). At best you could have a parallel system but who wants two systems of time?
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And standard time is used for all kinds of stuff on the internet (that you do not want to break) and global positioning systems (that you also do not want to break). At best you could have a parallel system but who wants two systems of time?
Actually using decimal time in parallel was tried. In 1998 Swatch introduced .beats (also known as Swatch Internet Time). This was an attempt to reinvent how we measure time in the digital age. Instead of hours and minutes, it divides the day into 1000 ".beats". These are exactly the same length of time as minutes in French Revolutionary Time, which makes sense when you think about it. Anyway a day starts at @ 000 and ends at @ 999.
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Actually using decimal time in parallel was tried. In 1998 Swatch introduced .beats (also known as Swatch Internet Time). This was an attempt to reinvent how we measure time in the digital age. Instead of hours and minutes, it divides the day into 1000 ".beats". These are exactly the same length of time as minutes in French Revolutionary Time, which makes sense when you think about it. Anyway a day starts at @ 000 and ends at @ 999.
Perhaps more interesting than the decimal part was that .beats only had a single time zone. Based on Swatch's Biel HQ in Switzerland, so @ 000 .beats starts at midnight in Switzerland. The idea here was that you never need to convert. If an event happens anywhere in the world it can be written in .beats. Great for international meetings, flight times, etc.
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Perhaps more interesting than the decimal part was that .beats only had a single time zone. Based on Swatch's Biel HQ in Switzerland, so @ 000 .beats starts at midnight in Switzerland. The idea here was that you never need to convert. If an event happens anywhere in the world it can be written in .beats. Great for international meetings, flight times, etc.
It didn't catch on and there are clues that this was pure marketing rather than an true effort to improve the world. It was not clear if other watch manufacturers could use the term ".beats". There was no need to move the prime meridian to Biel and so on.
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It didn't catch on and there are clues that this was pure marketing rather than an true effort to improve the world. It was not clear if other watch manufacturers could use the term ".beats". There was no need to move the prime meridian to Biel and so on.
Also if you want a universal time you can already do that by offering a time in UTC. Anyway it is still fun and you still find occasional references to it on the internet and in software. Here is one of my #Casio F-91Ws using @joeycastillo's super cool #SensorWatch module to show a time in .beats.
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Also if you want a universal time you can already do that by offering a time in UTC. Anyway it is still fun and you still find occasional references to it on the internet and in software. Here is one of my #Casio F-91Ws using @joeycastillo's super cool #SensorWatch module to show a time in .beats.
But before I end this, one more bit of trivia, while we might not get a decimal time in the future, we had one in the past, that lasted longer and was used by more people than the French attempt (or .beats). China used decimal based time divisions long before the adoption of Western systems back in the 17th century. Until 1645, the Chinese measured time using units like the kè (刻), which was typically defined as 1⁄100 of a day, thus making it a true decimal unit. 🎉
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But before I end this, one more bit of trivia, while we might not get a decimal time in the future, we had one in the past, that lasted longer and was used by more people than the French attempt (or .beats). China used decimal based time divisions long before the adoption of Western systems back in the 17th century. Until 1645, the Chinese measured time using units like the kè (刻), which was typically defined as 1⁄100 of a day, thus making it a true decimal unit. 🎉
Ok, here is a bonus joke for you:
There are 10 types of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who do not.
🤓
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