Re:How much is time wrong around the world? (2014)
by prerok on Sunday July 08, 2018 @06:56AM
(#17483157)
I think that the referred confusion is the difference in applying the DST between Europe and US:
Start and end dates vary with location and year. Since 1996, European Summer Time has been observed from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October; previously the rules were not uniform across the European Union. Starting in 2007, most of the United States and Canada observe DST from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November, almost two-thirds of the year.
The problem is that if you're European (like me) and have recurring weekly meetings with US based coworkers the meetings will be shifted by an hour until the other party shifts the clock.
I'm reminded of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: "Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so."
Time zones are artificial too, but the benefits of coordination outweigh the advantages of sticking to a perfect solar noon.
The thing DST does pretty well is keep sunrise to within an hour of 7:00am (plus or minus, depending on location) year round. Without DST, sunrise varies by 3 hours in the US.
> daylight savings time seems to be an enormous confusion factor
It certainly requires people to adjust, two days a year. There is certainly some small amount of effort related to publishing calendars and having a few people forget, I suppose. At least, that used to be common before smartphones and the internet. It seems to be fading over time.
But what is the enormous confusion are you referring to?
It seems like these days, since nearly all clocks and phones are digital and net-connected, we could, if we wanted, have a continuously adjusting schedule. That wouldn't reduce confusion, but it's no longer crazy either.