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Why does the USA not use the 24 hour clock?

ChristianJapan said:
View attachment 321291. Looks 12 hours scale only ;). But it's DB; they have anyway their own time dimension (but that would lead us off topic)
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I guess I shouldn't have used the word "all". Of the digital clocks that I purchased in Germany all of them were 24 hour clocks with no AM or PM. Better? :p

And yes, the DB no longer uses any clock any longer. I remember back in the 80's when you could set your watch to the trains. Not so much anymore.
 
Gerbil penises.
LaughingGirl.gif
 
As for time, I prefer the 24 hour clock. However, while easy to set on DIGITAL devices, an ANALOG watch requires "translation" after noon.

I lived through the 1970's failed push to adopt the metric system in the U.S. The problem is again one of translation. If one's "native language" is the imperial system, you have to go through a mental "translation" to think in metric units. I have used metric in my job, but concepually, I have a feel for how much a pound or inch is (not so much for a kilogram or centimeter).
 
ChristianJapan said:
Nah, my point was your funny typo: check you times again ...;)
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But that is Deutsche Bahn time. If the train should be there at 3 PM, it will arrive at 15:30.

Anyway, I like the way the DB has removed almost all the clocks from their train stations or put them, where they can't be easily seen. Just look at the ugly monstrosity of Lehrter Bahnhof, now called Hauptbahnhof (main station), where there is no visible clock in the "main hall", not even the electronic time tables at the entrances to the platforms include any kind of clock, only the two big time tables at the entrances. What a ****ing shame, though it fits that ugly building.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
But that is Deutsche Bahn time. If the train should be there at 3 PM, it will arrive at 15:30.

Anyway, I like the way the DB has removed almost all the clocks from their train stations or put them, where they can't be easily seen. Just look at the ugly monstrosity of Lehrter Bahnhof, now called Hauptbahnhof (main station), where there is no visible clock in the "main hall", not even the electronic time tables at the entrances to the platforms include any kind of clock, only the two big time tables at the entrances. What a ****ing shame, though it fits that ugly building.
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I never have a problem at Frankfurt/München/Köln Hbf. All track-side boards have digital clocks (in 24h format). Never been to Lehrter Hbf though.
 
acidfast7 said:
I never have a problem at Frankfurt/München/Köln Hbf. All track-side boards have digital clocks (in 24h format). Never been to Lehrter Hbf though.
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Maybe it's only happening to the new stations they build. I haven't been to Frankfurt since 2010, but I can vaguely remember, that Frankfurt, Mainz and Würzburg had clocks, that were more visible. Maybe it is just Berlin and the new architecture, that they chose to uglify the city with.
 
miles01110 said:
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."
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Not sure what is so hard to understand here. Working with positive integers is easier than working with fractions, not to mention fractions that are not increments of 10. That is coming from someone who has worked in the American construction industry and dealt with 1/8" measurements for 20 years, but since you asked:

http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/pays-off.html

http://www.science20.com/hammock_physicist/metric_vs_imperial_end_epic_battle

http://www.metric4us.com/whynot.html
 
Then leave the USA if it's so bad, do us all a favor.

I realize that there are people from all over the world on MacRumors, but keep the political vitriol to the boards suited for it.

This is the Apple community board, there's a political board for that crap, move your hate over there.
 
Just because the US doesn't use a 24 hour clock doesn't make it behind or inferior, it's just different. Using a 12 hour clock is the least of our problems.

I didn't misread the thread title, I understood it and I am focusing your anti-US replies. I could give a **** that you have a PhD.

Your little comments about the US are political in nature. Slamming a country is political. You did it several times in your replies.

If you are unhappy where you are, then move.
 
acidfast7 said:
it is the international norm.

you can't really expect anything useful out of Americans, they don't even use the metric system

lol

hey Billy Bob Job, how heavy is that gallon of milk?. gee, I don't know?
hey Jean Luc Blanchard, how heavy is that litre of milk? we'll one kilo you silly goose (scene ends with two men kissing)

:facepalm:
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You can't really expect anything useful out of Americans..... as I type on a computer platform developed in the country on a forum dedicated to American products which I likely found using a search engine developed by an American company. Looks like the time system didn't really matter that much...

Your welcome,

America


Now that I have a firm grasp of the metric system in ordinary life situations I can say... its overrated.
 
If sundials and water clocks were good enough for the ancient Egyptians, they're good enough for me. ;)

Though to be fair, this whole division, be it 12 hours or 24, is entirely artificial. So what does it matter? There's daytime and there's nighttime... the rest is nitpicking.
 
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Lighten up everyone, arguing about metric versus imperial, and the luxury of being certain of which to use - you should try being British and of a certain age...

We were taught metric at school but everyone outside of the school seemed to work in Imperial. Helping your Dad became a nightmare. The results were never impressive and involved learning a lot of new swear words.

I guess the results can be called the 'British Dad' system, It goes something like this...

You measure things in mm, cm and metres. However, when you run out of tape measure you switch to feet and yards to estimate further. Miles are used if it's really big distance, especially if you don't want to go there. (Kilometres are reserved for school text book problems and the army.) Temperature is easy - use metric in the winter ("Blimey - I'm not going out there it's 5 below") and Imperial in summer ("It's a scorcher - 80 in the shade!"). Weights - in the gym your expected to use kilos, in conversations I tend to use stone (whatever they are, scales in our house when we were kids were always marked in stone... Estimating how many bags of sugar someone is - is very useful, that give you an estimate in kilos ). Liquids - use ml for small stuff and pints after that. Mind you if it's more than a couple of pints switching back to litres helps...

Time - definitely still use 12 hour clock, meeting at the pub at 18.40 for a swift half a litre (sounds a lot more than a pint) doesn't do it for me... (But I'm still trying to persuade my mother not to say "five and twenty too". I'm never sure what time I should be meeting her at.)
 
jeremy h speaks the truthiest of truths, pay close heed to his words.

School taught me one system, the rest of the world the other. So when I was measuring up for curtains at the weekend I used centimetres, but tell me your height in the same units and I don't have a clue how tall you are. I measure my weight in stones, but food and the like in grams and kilograms.

There's no wonder we're all so confused all of the time.
 
Happybunny said:
With just four numbers, you can given the exact time. (no AM/PM)
It's the international norm.
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There is not a single country that uses 24h. I do not know from where you got that idea.

Actually, AM and PM comes from Ante Meridian and Post Meridian based on the Greenwich Meridiam and how the sun impact on it. That was way before the 24h nomenclature.
 
When I establish my seastead, time will be measured by the tides and the official unit of measurement will the the Hagfish.

Now, can someone please direct me to the thread where we are debating DD-MM-YY versus MM-DD-YY? ;)
 
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