Ask HN: Why did this idea of Internet Time not work?

Re:Ask HN: Why did this idea of Internet Time not work? by Kejistan on Tuesday March 17, 2009 @12:31PM (#520079)

What problem does a meter solve that a foot doesn't? Easy conversions between different sized measures of distance. 1000 beats in a day is easier to keep track of than 1440 minutes. Just because its not easily converted to from the units you're used to doesn't make it "bad" (2.54cm to 1 inch?).

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Re:Ask HN: Why did this idea of Internet Time not work? by lucasoman on Tuesday March 17, 2009 @12:47PM (#520099)

Meters by themselves don't solve anything. But the whole metric system makes a lot of sense; everything is a power of ten, a cubic centimeter equals a milliliter, which makes length=>volume conversion trivial, etc.

From infancy, seconds, minutes and hours are ingrained in our minds. 60 is also a beautiful number, being divisible by 2,3,4,5,6,10,12,15,20,30. Given a time, like 10:42AM, a person can conjure feelings, instincts and memories about that time. Using a system based on 1000 "beats" would make time measurement meaningless for a very long time.

Outside of the Internet, most "normal" people communicate predominately with people in their own area and timezone, making the benefit of no timezones moot.

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Re:Ask HN: Why did this idea of Internet Time not work? by Semiapies on Tuesday March 17, 2009 @06:16PM (#520732)

Further, the metric system offered universality between conflicting measures. However, people around the world already use the single measuring system of hours, minutes, and seconds (that last being a SI unit), and UTC is a global standard.

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Re:Ask HN: Why did this idea of Internet Time not work? by mechanical_fish on Tuesday March 17, 2009 @12:56PM (#520115)

Just because its not easily converted to from the units you're used to doesn't make it "bad"

You have clearly never met an American machinist. ;)

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Re:Ask HN: Why did this idea of Internet Time not work? by joe_bleau on Tuesday March 17, 2009 @01:26PM (#520171)

Ever try and cut metric threads on an engine (non-CNC) lathe? Hope you didn't disengage the half-nut...

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Re:Ask HN: Why did this idea of Internet Time not work? by paddy_m on Tuesday March 17, 2009 @02:27PM (#520312)

I have had a fascination with machining for a while, are you guys practiced in the art?

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Re:Ask HN: Why did this idea of Internet Time not work? by joe_bleau on Tuesday March 17, 2009 @07:09PM (#520803)

I'm not, but I've turned the handles and made chips in machine shop or three. I do know a few real old-school experts, however.

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