What if the entire world had 1 timezone?

[Travis Munroe]

Anyone else think they understood after reading the first post but then became more confused as they read through the thread?

[Zevo]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Then what is the point? I wake up a 21:00 and then work until 6:00 the next day. If somebody in another "sleep zone" works a different schedule; they still need to figure out what "sleep zone" I am in.

And that brings up another point- days of the week. With the sunrise at 21:00 I will work over a day change. Now there is confusion as to what day of the week it really is. If you don't believe me, try going to a Burger King drive through at 1:00 am and try getting the "next day's" deal that night.

As I said, a lot of work to save a few travelers adjusting their watches. As for the zig zagging that our timezones currently do; that is so that all of one province, state, or country can be in one zone.

Oh absolutely...I'm not saying I'm agreeing or disagreeing with the OP, just that some were not getting the gist of the original post. For the record, I do think it would be mass confusion, at least at the beginning. Sure you would know exactly what time it was anywhere in the world...but you would still have no idea where they were in their day.

[pylon]

OK, I changed my mind. This is a bad idea.

[ma-skis.com]

meh, people would get used to it if that was the system, it's like moving to the states and having to learn all the measurements they use, or moving to Europe and trying to remember what the hell a dL was again.

... or living in Canada which uses different measurements based on whatever it is you just happen to be measuring

people would just get used to it, we just reject your idea because we're not used to it yet. (or it's just ridiculous)

[getbak]

The advantages would be minimal. One I can think of would be that you'd know that if you were taking a 7 hour fight that left at 10:00, you'd arrive at your destination at 17:00. Also, if you wanted to watch a live event from somewhere on the other side of the world, you'd know what time it started without converting the time.

The disadvantage to that is that knowing that you're arriving at 17:00 wouldn't have any real meaning to you because if you landed in London at 17:00, it might be late in the daylight hours; but if you landed in Tokyo at 17:00 it would be the middle of the night.


With what we have now, we all know that if we take a flight that's scheduled to land at 08:00 local time, we'll be landing early in the daylight hours.

Also, it would very tough to have any idea what the local schedule would be like. If we went to GMT exclusively, a store that is currently open from 10am to 9pm in Calgary would now be open from 17:00 to 04:00 the next day. The day would change at what is currently 5:00pm in Calgary. The normal 9-5 working day in Calgary would become a 16:00 to 24:00 working day.


With the current system, if I need to talk to someone in Germany, I can look at a world clock and know that if it's 3:00pm in Calgary, it's 11:00pm in Germany, and that tells me all I need to know about whether I should try to make that call now. If there was one world clock, I'd know that it's 22:00 here and in Germany, but I'd have no inherent idea of what that means for the likelihood of being able to make my call.


Right now, no matter where I go in the world, I know that 12:00 is mid-day and 0:00 is mid-night. That's what's important. If we went to one single clock, the local time would no longer have any meaning, so we'd need more information to know anything about when sunrise and sunset will be and when businesses will be open.

The answer to the question "what time is it?" would be greatly simplified, but it would be replaced by the much more complex question, "what does the time mean?"

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by ken0042

As I said, a lot of work to save a few travelers adjusting their watches. As for the zig zagging that our timezones currently do; that is so that all of one province, state, or country can be in one zone.

And it doesn't really make it easier for travellers, easier. Right now, if you're flying to another city, you just change your watch to the time that the flight attendant tells you when you get off the plane, and you're set: businesses still open at 9:00 local time, restaurants switch to their supper menu at around 17:00. But under the one time-zone proposal, you fly to, say Toronto, and every time you look at your watch you need to make an adjustment in your mind. Banks don't open at 15:00, as they do in Calgary, they open at 13:00. It'll take you days just to get used to this new schedule.

[transplant99]

Yeah...im trying to figure out what the benefit would be...seriously i cant think of any that are worthwhile enough to completely change how 3/4 of the world would have to operate.

[moon]

This came up randomly or because of Kevin Wildes?

I will go with what I thought when he said it it seems to cause way more problems than it solves.

Perhaps if we were starting from 0 and never had timezones but with the timezones already in place it seems crazy to change it for minimal to no gain.

[stuck_in_chuk]

China does this - the whole country uses the time zone that Beijing would fall into, even though prior to the communist takeover there were 5 separate time zones. In their case, businesses and government offices run based on Beijing time. Although, that is kind of the same here - I have friends who work for Toronto-based companies who are up at 5am everyday for the daily teleconference that starts in TO at 7am.

It's all a little arbitrary if you ask me.

[Resolute 14]

And World War III would begin as a result of the argument over whose time zone to use. It isn't like Americans are going to be all that receptive to anything that doesn't revolve around them. And I doubt the Brits or Europeans would see a need to use anything but GMT.

The truth is, there is not a single productive reason to make such a change

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Then what is the point? I wake up a 21:00 and then work until 6:00 the next day. If somebody in another "sleep zone" works a different schedule; they still need to figure out what "sleep zone" I am in.

And that brings up another point- days of the week. With the sunrise at 21:00 I will work over a day change. Now there is confusion as to what day of the week it really is. If you don't believe me, try going to a Burger King drive through at 1:00 am and try getting the "next day's" deal that night.

As I said, a lot of work to save a few travelers adjusting their watches. As for the zig zagging that our timezones currently do; that is so that all of one province, state, or country can be in one zone.

Why would there be confusion over what day it is. Once it hits 00:00 it's another day.

You work shift could go from one day to another. I'm sure there are plenty of people now who work through midnight.

So in Calgary if you're working a 16:00 to 00:00 normal day shift, you better leave a few minutes early to get that Burger King deal

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by octothorp

I look forward to conversations like this:

"I need a package picked up tomorrow."
"Well, it's the middle of the day now, so tomorrow means about 15 minutes from now, is that good?"
"No, I want it picked up next business day."
"But that is the next business day."
"No, I mean literal day, like after the sun goes down and we all go home and then it comes up again and we come back in to work. That's when I want the package picked up."
"Ah, so if we come by at 17:00 tomorrow morning, that will work?"
"Yes, but I need it delivered later the same day."
"You mean during the same daylight period, or during the same 24 hour period?"
"During the same 24 hour period is fine."
"But the 24-hour cycle ends prior to sundown, so it's faster and more expensive if we deliver it during the 24-hour cycle."
"But I saw an ad that had low rates for same day shipments."
"Oh, you saw our ad for eastern canada where the 24-hour cycle ends after sundown."
"So if have it delivered in the same 24-hour cycle, what time will it arrive by?"
"Well, by 23:59, of course."
"Okay, that's the middle of tomorrow afternoon, right?
"Yes. Wait, do you mean middle of the afternoon, as in around 15:00, or do you mean literally, like, 3 hours after the sun's zenith?"
"No, I mean 3 hours after the sun's zenith. I don't know. I just want a package picked up while I'm at work tomorrow, and delivered later that same day."
"So... we'll have a guy there to pick up the package in fifteen minutes."
"..."

Obviously one wouldn't use words like "day" or "next day" anymore. There would just be 24-hour and 48-hour service.

Just say, "I need this package picked up at 21:00 and be in Shanghai by 21:00 tomorrow" and everyone in the world would know when 21:00 is because it's the same for everyone!

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Why would there be confusion over what day it is. Once it hits 00:00 it's another day.

You work shift could go from one day to another. I'm sure there are plenty of people now who work through midnight.

So in Calgary if you're working a 16:00 to 00:00 normal day shift, you better leave a few minutes early to get that Burger King deal

I think you missed my point. Right now if you go into BK at 1:00 am Saturday morning, you are offerred the Friday deal; as they are working on the Friday business day. It doesn't matter that it is technically Saturday.

Now change it a bit so that the day changes around lunch time. Now what happens? And the BK example is very simple, but how many things are done by saying "let's do X on Thursday." Now look at octothorp's very real example of what could happen.

These are just some of the complications; and I have still yet to see any advantage other than not having to adjust a watch when travelling.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by ken0042

I think you missed my point. Right now if you go into BK at 1:00 am Saturday morning, you are offerred the Friday deal; as they are working on the Friday business day. It doesn't matter that it is technically Saturday.

Now change it a bit so that the day changes around lunch time. Now what happens? And the BK example is very simple, but how many things are done by saying "let's do X on Thursday." Now look at octothorp's very real example of what could happen.

These are just some of the complications; and I have still yet to see any advantage other than not having to adjust a watch when travelling.

TV. When watching world events they can just say "so-so is playing at 15:00" and nobody has to convert time.

Flames would play their home games at 02:00 so our fans in Europe would know when that is (in the middle of the night).

[Notorious Honey Badger]

Originally Posted by octothorp

I look forward to conversations like this:

"I need a package picked up tomorrow."
"Well, it's the middle of the day now, so tomorrow means about 15 minutes from now, is that good?"
"No, I want it picked up next business day."
"But that is the next business day."
"No, I mean literal day, like after the sun goes down and we all go home and then it comes up again and we come back in to work. That's when I want the package picked up."
"Ah, so if we come by at 17:00 tomorrow morning, that will work?"
"Yes, but I need it delivered later the same day."
"You mean during the same daylight period, or during the same 24 hour period?"
"During the same 24 hour period is fine."
"But the 24-hour cycle ends prior to sundown, so it's faster and more expensive if we deliver it during the 24-hour cycle."
"But I saw an ad that had low rates for same day shipments."
"Oh, you saw our ad for eastern canada where the 24-hour cycle ends after sundown."
"So if have it delivered in the same 24-hour cycle, what time will it arrive by?"
"Well, by 23:59, of course."
"Okay, that's the middle of tomorrow afternoon, right?
"Yes. Wait, do you mean middle of the afternoon, as in around 15:00, or do you mean literally, like, 3 hours after the sun's zenith?"
"No, I mean 3 hours after the sun's zenith. I don't know. I just want a package picked up while I'm at work tomorrow, and delivered later that same day."
"So... we'll have a guy there to pick up the package in fifteen minutes."
"..."

Or..

"I need a package picked up tomorrow."
"How many hours from now?"
"oh... 24 please"

*transaction continues*

[bc-chris]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Yeah...im trying to figure out what the benefit would be...seriously i cant think of any that are worthwhile enough to completely change how 3/4 of the world would have to operate.

easy... i go to the flames webpage and see a game time of 8pm - i know the game starts at 8... not 7pm here in here in BC

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Obviously one wouldn't use words like "day" or "next day" anymore. There would just be 24-hour and 48-hour service.

Just say, "I need this package picked up at 21:00 and be in Shanghai by 21:00 tomorrow" and everyone in the world would know when 21:00 is because it's the same for everyone!

Yeah, except that 21:00 here is the middle of the afternoon, while 21:00 in Shanghai is going to be early in the morning before any businesses open.
Let's say, more realistically, I'm shipping it off in the middle of the afternoon in my time, and need to get to Shanghai before end of business the next day. I don't care whether it arrives at 8:00 or 16:00. But I can't just say 'next day', because days apparently don't exist anymore. I need to check some sort of index and see what time businesses actually open and close in Shanghai (we don't have time zones so I can't just see what time zone Shanghai is in), and determine that Shanghai businesses open at 23:00 and close at 7:00. So I need to now specify that the package needs to be delivered between 23:00 on the 20th, and 7:00 on the 21st. Explain to me how that's simpler than saying that the package needs to be delivered tomorrow.

[CaptainCrunch]

I'd feel really guilty about masturbating while the sun was up?

[GP_Matt]

As per the China example, I think most places east of Beijing run on two simultaneous time zones. Official time and local time which can be very confusing for anyone not from the region.
An example noted was Xinjiang which runs on both Xinjiang and Beijing time which are two hours apart. Trains and busses run on Xinjiang time while stores post their hours according to Beijing time.

The issue that I see is that when travelling you wouldn't always know what time to eat lunch. The first time I miss lunch because it is a cloudy day and I couldn't tell that it was high noon I will lose interest in the proposal and actively resist it.

[TurnedTheCorner]

http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/367qsg/