What if the entire world had 1 timezone? - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

GirlySports · 02-19-2012, 01:15 PM

GMT for example.

I was having lunch with a friend and a silly discussion of timezones came up.
Why do we have timezones? Why do we really care what time it is.

So let's say everyone was on GMT time. Time becomes irrelevant since if I say 8pm, it would be 8pm everywhere around the world

So for Calgary instead of the sun coming up at 7am, the sun now comes up at 2pm.. so what?

A day work shift in Calgary would be 4pm to midnight with an 8pm 'lunch'
Flames games would start at 1am.

A person in Toronto would work from 2pm to 10pm

GMT (England) 9am to 5pm

In China from 1am to 9am

We all still be up when the sun is up and sleep when the sun is down. The time is just shifted.

So right now it would be 20:15 world wide

Would it work!?

awildermode · 02-19-2012, 01:22 PM

would have to eliminate AM/PM and go with 'military' time.

one problem would be days of the week. i guess you can get rid of that and go by date. even better, go with stardates.

skrish · 02-19-2012, 01:23 PM

GirlySports · 02-19-2012, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by awildermode

would have to eliminate AM/PM and go with 'military' time.

one problem would be days of the week. i guess you can get rid of that and go by date. even better, go with stardates.

24 hour clock for sure.
Why would it affect days of the week.. someone somewhere just might have to work on a sun-thur schedule or something... similar to how graveyard shift works now anyways.

nik- · 02-19-2012, 01:29 PM

The problem would be deciding who has to spend their productive lives in the daylight and who has to be stuck with the night shift. Screw just letting the Europeans have it!

Cecil Terwilliger · 02-19-2012, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by awildermode

would have to eliminate AM/PM and go with 'military' time.

one problem would be days of the week. i guess you can get rid of that and go by date. even better, go with stardates.

I only approve of stardate if I'm allowed to start every sentence that is date related with "Captain's log..."

browna · 02-19-2012, 01:32 PM

If you had to call someone in Europe or Asia, or business calls had to be made overseas, how would you know what time to call, without waking them up?

GirlySports · 02-19-2012, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nik-

The problem would be deciding who has to spend their productive lives in the daylight and who has to be stuck with the night shift. Screw just letting the Europeans have it!

It's exactly the same as now.. everyone would be in daylight.
Everyone wakes up and sleeps at the same time.

The time is just different.

pylon · 02-19-2012, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by browna

If you had to call someone in Europe or Asia, or business calls had to be made overseas, how would you know what time to call, without waking them up?

You would just eventually know.

I have discussed this with someone before, and I am all for it. The current format is highly discriminatory. For example, if the world ended, Australians technically get to live longer than everyone else. Total BS.

Superfraggle · 02-19-2012, 01:35 PM

It would make it harder to figure out what time of day it is for someone else. If you want to call someone in Australia now, you add or subtract however many hours and the number you come up with will tell you what time of day it is for them. If it were the same time there as here, though. You would have to figure out what time of day 14:00 means in Australia, even though it's also 14:00 here. Time zones make the calculation easier, as 14:00 is in the afternoon everywhere, even though it doesn't all happen at the same time.

ken0042 · 02-19-2012, 01:40 PM

Here's my question- what would be the purpose of the single time zone? Not having to adjust your watch when you travel? Not having to convert when a TV station a show starts at 9PM EST?

I'm just thinking that this is a massive undertaking; and for most people in the world it doesn't really matter. I just visited the Philippines; where there are 100 million people who have no concept of time zone. Not because they are dumb, but because they have never had to adjust the time. And they can't be the only country like that; where people don't have the means to travel outside their time zone.

Nevermind the whole point of our bodies being tied to what the sun does. Under your proposal, some places in the world would be sleeping the entire time that we have daylight. Another factor; the reason we don't stay with DST all year long is so that our kids have daylight both coming and going to school.

Neat idea; but all sorts of complications.

burn_this_city · 02-19-2012, 01:42 PM

I wonder if NFLD would still be 30 mins ahead?

GirlySports · 02-19-2012, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ken0042

Here's my question- what would be the purpose of the single time zone? Not having to adjust your watch when you travel? Not having to convert when a TV station a show starts at 9PM EST?

I'm just thinking that this is a massive undertaking; and for most people in the world it doesn't really matter. I just visited the Philippines; where there are 100 million people who have no concept of time zone. Not because they are dumb, but because they have never had to adjust the time. And they can't be the only country like that; where people don't have the means to travel outside their time zone.

Nevermind the whole point of our bodies being tied to what the sun does. Under your proposal, some places in the world would be sleeping the entire time that we have daylight. Another factor; the reason we don't stay with DST all year long is so that our kids have daylight both coming and going to school.

Neat idea; but all sorts of complications.

That happens now, I can't change the sun.

Kids would still get daylight, nothing changes.

Northendzone · 02-19-2012, 01:50 PM

It would not work very well.....it's hard to golf at night and sleep when it is day light......

Barnet Flame · 02-19-2012, 01:55 PM

The only problem with timezones is that Toronto is not acknowledged as the centre of the Universe.

awildermode · 02-19-2012, 01:57 PM

ARGH!

the solar system is not changing. only times are changing. we just go by one time zone. we are still waking up around daylight, sleeping at night time. only what we call "7AM" is different.

my proposal, as always, is to stop having daylight savings time. just set the clocks off half an hour and leave it at that. this idea of one time zone would get rid of constantly having to adjust clocks/watches every 6 months.

Zevo · 02-19-2012, 01:59 PM

I think some people are missing the OP point. Everyone would still work in the day and sleep at night (except shift workers of course). Just some peoples daylight would start at 9:00 pm, or 21:00 hrs, for example.

AC · 02-19-2012, 02:16 PM

Apparently the amount of confusion in this thread is an explanation of why this couldn't be implememted. Ultimately you would still likely need a form of "timezone chart" in order to calculate / account for when other parts of the world are awake, but it would at least be more logical and would use vertical delineations instead of the odd zigzag our timezone system has.

octothorp · 02-19-2012, 02:23 PM

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."
"..."

ken0042 · 02-19-2012, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zevo

I think some people are missing the OP point. Everyone would still work in the day and sleep at night (except shift workers of course). Just some peoples daylight would start at 9:00 pm, or 21:00 hrs, for example.

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.