ChristianVirtual
macrumors 601
That's true for written time tables but in spoken language we also use 12 hours only. Hardly hear that we meet at 20:00; most 8:00 in the evening.
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Why does the USA not use the 24 hour clock?
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That's true for written time tables but in spoken language we also use 12 hours only. Hardly hear that we meet at 20:00; most 8:00 in the evening.
acidfast7
macrumors 65816
I actually find it quite strange when I see 19:00 on the TV screen but hear 7 spoken.
In Swedish, 19:00 on the screen and 19 is spoken.
No, there is a better system less prone to error. There is a reason labs and healthcare environments predominantly use metric, and it isn't for international compatibility.
If your point is that Americans don't do what's best for them, you are exactly right. We haven't switched because we resist change, even when it would benefit us, and because we are too lazy to put forth the (admittedly but only briefly painful) effort of conversion. We've been dragging our feet for years and could have been over it by now... but no.
As for the 24-hour clock, many people in the US use it. That would be an easier sell than metric, I think.
iStudentUK
macrumors 65816
miles01110
macrumors Core
If you'd like to provide some facts that people who use metric are less error prone than people that don't I might believe you. Until then I'll jsut file this under "citation needed."
We haven't switched because there is no incentive to do so. Plain and simple. If the invisible hand flips the switch, we'll change to metric.
acidfast7
macrumors 65816
Typical.
You'll isolate yourselves again and then only do something once it becomes necessary and needlessly expensive.
LOL
gawd am I so glad I left that dump behind.
0098386
Suspended
I learned how to "decipher" a 24 hour clock when I was 7. Our new oven had a 24 hour clock, none of my friends could understand it so I wanted to.
Never understood the need for fahrenheit. Maybe it's just how we were taught things in the UK but water freezing at 0ºc, gas at 100ºc just makes too much sense to me.
Never understood the need for fahrenheit. Maybe it's just how we were taught things in the UK but water freezing at 0ºc, gas at 100ºc just makes too much sense to me.
Shrink
macrumors G3
As one who grew up in America, I am most at ease with the 12 hour clock.
However, when I am talking to my friend in the UK, I convert to 24 hour for him. The more I do it, the more sense it makes to me. It eliminates potential errors in speaking and writing the time;i.e. screwing up AM and PM. The US military uses it, and like the phonetic alphabet, reduces potential confusion and errors.
If one wanted to stretch the point a bit, one might say continued use of the 12 hour clock, and the avoidance of the metric system, represents America's ethnocentricity and it's insistence that everything we do is right, and screw the rest of the world. All science, in the US and the rest of the world, employs metric measurement, and most of the world uses the 24 hour clock.
And finally, it eliminates one of my (silly and pedantic) pet peeves - people saying "5:00AM in the morning". Well, it can't be 5:00AM in the afternoon, can it? Another dopey redundancy.
(Yes, I know I'm a fussy jerk. 😱)
However, when I am talking to my friend in the UK, I convert to 24 hour for him. The more I do it, the more sense it makes to me. It eliminates potential errors in speaking and writing the time;i.e. screwing up AM and PM. The US military uses it, and like the phonetic alphabet, reduces potential confusion and errors.
If one wanted to stretch the point a bit, one might say continued use of the 12 hour clock, and the avoidance of the metric system, represents America's ethnocentricity and it's insistence that everything we do is right, and screw the rest of the world. All science, in the US and the rest of the world, employs metric measurement, and most of the world uses the 24 hour clock.
And finally, it eliminates one of my (silly and pedantic) pet peeves - people saying "5:00AM in the morning". Well, it can't be 5:00AM in the afternoon, can it? Another dopey redundancy.
(Yes, I know I'm a fussy jerk. 😱)
I sometimes use AM/PM and I sometimes use 24 hour. It's not an International Norm either. Most of my non-US friends do the same as me and use both AM/PM or 24 hour, and not because they match up with their US friends, but because they've stated it was easier to use. My iPod touch and Mac are set to 12 hour time, but my PS3 & Phone are set to 24 hour time. It's all about personal preference.
Dr McKay
macrumors 601
One of my friends is so convinced that America is superior in every single way, and everything they do makes so much more sense that he actually switched over from C to F.
Now it's just irritating when he insists on discussing the weather with me and uses Fahrenheit. Now I just play stupid when he says to me "It's supposed to get to 70 degrees today" I'll respond with something sarcastic about how that'd be a record heatwave for the UK, he'll give in eventually.
iStudentUK
macrumors 65816
The public using imperial units is one thing, but scientists using imperial units should be exiled! Even in the US metric (SI if you want to be technical) is normal at high level research.
S.B.G
Moderator emeritus
Well, I still use and like our Standard system (imperial) but I do tell time in 24hr format thanks to my former military life. 24hr time is much easier to go by.
I was watching some documentaries last night on Netflix and they kept using the metric system to tell about distances to various things in space, and I had no clue how far they were; wished they used miles, then I'd have had a better grasp of it.
American's were taught and raised on the Standard system, therefore, for the majority of us, that's all we know, use and accept. If we were brought up and taught the metric system, that's what we'd use and love. It's just not the way it worked out.
I was watching some documentaries last night on Netflix and they kept using the metric system to tell about distances to various things in space, and I had no clue how far they were; wished they used miles, then I'd have had a better grasp of it.
American's were taught and raised on the Standard system, therefore, for the majority of us, that's all we know, use and accept. If we were brought up and taught the metric system, that's what we'd use and love. It's just not the way it worked out.
firestarter
macrumors 603
Agreed... but where there are two standards there will always be room for confusion.
It's embarrassing that we still use miles for road signs. To the UK public, vehicle fuel efficiency calculation is needlessly opaque, as we measure distance in miles, fuel in litres and efficiency in miles/gallon. I set my GPS to read out metric... I can't stand it switching from half a mile to 1600 feet (or whatever illogical number of feet there are in a half mile).
Thats a bit harsh.....
Back on the O.P i don't think there is much of a need right now for them to change their clock to a 24h one.... now if this would be a metric vs imperial system question my answer would be quite a bit different....
This is the same in Germany but only if it is understood otherwise you use the 24 time. Speech is one thing, but all of the clocks were 24 hour clocks. 😉
acidfast7
macrumors 65816
Not really, my gf and I are trying to get good positions and settle in København.
Tell you what... when the rest of the world has the decency to speak American english, THEN we'll take a gander at your silly base-10 thingamajig. 😉
I am 46 years old. When I was a kid, Schoolhouse Rock taught kids multiplication, history, and parts of speech. I can still recite the preamble to the Constitution thanks to Schoolhouse Rock. There was one episode detailing the metric system. I don't recall that one at all.
Frankly, I prefer a more eclectic system. If it bothers people, it amuses me.
I am 46 years old. When I was a kid, Schoolhouse Rock taught kids multiplication, history, and parts of speech. I can still recite the preamble to the Constitution thanks to Schoolhouse Rock. There was one episode detailing the metric system. I don't recall that one at all.
Frankly, I prefer a more eclectic system. If it bothers people, it amuses me.
Odd man out
Guess I am the odd man out here in the states.
I use the Universal Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) sometimes referred to Universal Coordinated Time. I am a Amateur Radio Operator or HAM.
Have some military background so I do know how to use a 24 hour clock.
Yet for everyday I use the 12 hour clock.
I do use the metric measuring system when reading maps. I find it easier to find thing that way and is accepted practice with some people I associate with.
24 hour clock is a option not a standard here.
I have learned to adapt and use it. No problems here.
Guess I am the odd man out here in the states.
I use the Universal Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) sometimes referred to Universal Coordinated Time. I am a Amateur Radio Operator or HAM.
Have some military background so I do know how to use a 24 hour clock.
Yet for everyday I use the 12 hour clock.
I do use the metric measuring system when reading maps. I find it easier to find thing that way and is accepted practice with some people I associate with.
24 hour clock is a option not a standard here.
I have learned to adapt and use it. No problems here.
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ChristianVirtual
macrumors 601
. Looks 12 hours scale only 😉. But it's DB; they have anyway their own time dimension (but that would lead us off topic)
wordoflife
macrumors 604
17:49 is as exact of a time as 5:49 PM.
I guess it's just a cultural thing... That's just how time is written here.
It's not really a problem here. If your appointment is at 3:00, we know that it's at 15:30 (ie: not at night)
