I really hate how everyone is writing their Watch order/delivery dates backwards.

[dotnet]

Thank goodness we've got Unix time. The most intuitive of them all. You decide which date is earlier:

04/06/05 or 05/06/04

vs

1112745600 or 1083801600

A no-brainer, really.

 

[zorro07]

Obviously not everyone thinks the U.S. Is the centre of the universe! People use many ways to denote dates and times. It's part of the direst you of the world in which we live! Enjoy it! It's not going to go away. Cheers

 

[monokakata]

The US military uses DD-MM-YYYY, no matter what the general public prefers.

Time is annoying. When I was in the timing business I wrote routines that took HH:MM:SS.xx as text and converted it to integer centiseconds. Much easier to handle that way.

Ah. Julian Dates, which are handy for things like days between days, and answering questions such as "X days before today was what date?" I think dotnet gave us a couple of Julian days.

 

[citizenzen]

The US military uses DD-MM-YYYY, no matter what the general public prefers.

It's really not what we prefer, so much as what we've been taught, and what we're used to.

 

[A.Goldberg]

I wonder if there are any good stories of business/political deadlines or meetings not being met due to the difference in format.

United Nations World Conference 4/5/2016

Or is it 5/4/2016?

I speak/read Hebrew and am used to the alternative format. I'm also familiar with reading right to left, books from the back to front cover, and days starting at nightfall

 

[rei101]

When I was an exchange student here in the US, we all from every other country were complaining about the same things when we arrive.

Why month/day/ year if whet you care is the day/month/year?

I even went to court because once I wrote the date of the check wrong, it was may but I started with april 4/5/ and the landlord was not able to cash it, plus it was already late.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I know it all started with Apple, but seriously, I hate it. Its confusing as hell.

Im going to correct this trend starting now. My WSB will be delivered 05/14-05/20. NOT 14/05-20/05.

Such a strong verb to use in a thread title and in your post. 'Hate'. Why not reserve this eminently serviceable verb for a worthwhile cause?

As an American, I apologize to all non-Americans on this forum.

Thank you. There are times I genuinely scratch my head in befuddled bewilderment at some of the stuff that comes from the States…..

Image
USA USA

I knew a veteran of WW2 (British) who murmured that he could never trust a country which used the eagle as its symbol…..

I don’t care how other countries view their dates. This has been the first release where i’ve seen everyone jump on the bandwagon (which is what this thread is all about), Americans included using this date format. No other release has been like this, which is why I hate it.

Again, that verb. An excessive expression of emotion, to my mind……

You appear rather immature.

The same thought crossed my mind.

Now, re the topic in question, I'm from Europe, so the day,month,year sequence is what I was brought up with and what I am used to. Moreover, as a professional historian, I have a lot of experience in - and a vested interest in - the accurate use of dates, and I have always found the US system illogical; indeed, when I encounter it, I have to think twice, and pause, and double-check what it means.

And I do thank the various divinities- whose existence I sometimes doubt - for the fact the US military uses the sensible version more widely used elsewhere in the world.

 

[mightyjabba]

I think some very strong arguments can be made for why the metric system is superior to imperial measurements. I'm not sure the same can be said for dates. What we see as "logical" depends greatly on what we are accustomed to, and how we normally express dates in our spoken language.

 

[RawBert]

Do you non-Americans see the dates on this forum written like the image below?

 

[mobilehaathi]

Do you non-Americans see the dates on this forum written like the image below?

You can customize it.

 

[moonman239]

As a developer, I don't necessarily need to worry about date formatting for my apps, as long as the dates convert nicely into "date" objects.

We should forget about dates and just go with days. That will eliminate confusion. Imagine this conversation:

"Excuse me sir."
"Yes?"
"What day is it?"
"Let me check...it is the 265th day of the year."

 

[stormchasejg]

Serious question.



Do non-Americans say "May 8th" or do they say "8th of May"?



I know Americans generally say "May 8th" so it makes sense that the date would be written "5/8".

I'm from the UK and I say May 8th and so do many of the people at my school.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

You can customize it.

Which is what I have done.

 

[Happybunny]

Well I'm Traditionalist.

IMO it should be written.

XIV - V - MMXV

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Well I'm Traditionalist.

IMO it should be written.

XIV - V - MMXV

Bravo.

On matters such as this, Happybunny, all I can say is that you are a man after my own heart!

 

[Gutwrench]

I agree with this in principle. It's a naming format I use for regular emails I create for a performing arts center.

However, for a casual reader it forces them to skip over the parts that are the least significant to get to the parts they are the most interested in.

What works best for computers and filenames doesn't necessarily work best for the human mind and reading ease.

I've used ISO format (yyyy-mm-dd) professionally and personally for years. I prefer it because it removes ambiguity. I think most people would find it instinctive after a couple weeks of use. But heck, I'm not holding my breath since the metric system hasn't made much inroads in America over the last 50 years.

 

[chown33]

 

[Biff...]

America has done to much apologizing lately. As an American I don't apologize and will continue to use the same date format.

I like to go against the crowds

 

[Scepticalscribe]

America has done to much apologizing lately. As an American I don't apologize and will continue to use the same date format.

I like to go against the crowds

Does that mean that you will use that particular (to my mind, illogical format, but that is a different matter) format because

1) You prefer it? Or, because,

2) It is American? Or, because,

3) You 'don't apologise' as 'America has done to [sic] much apologising'? Or, finally, because,

4) You do prefer to go against (an international) crowd?

 

[Xiroteus]

I prefer month-day-year. Does day-month-year make more since like the measurement system everyone else uses? Perhaps, yet it looks wrong because I am not used to it. The U.S. measurement system makes less sense then everyone else yet I am used to this system.

Books printed the other way look backward and feel wrong. Are they wrong? Not to those who are used to them. Of course I may have issues with backward (to me) things anyway.

Just different.

 

[bruinsrme]

My job requires me to write dates one of two ways

DDMmmYY or DDMmmYYYY

All other dates formats are beyond comprehension