Slashdot Mirror


Digital Clock Without Electricity or Moving Parts

NerdMachine writes "Throw away those slide rules and embrace the digital age. The Digital Sundial is a 10 year old invention on display in Sundial Park (Genk, Belgium), Deutsches Museum (Munich Germany), Kölnisches Stadtmuseum (Cologne, Germany), and Martha's Vineyard, USA. You need to pivot it to adjust daylight savings time. If you can't visit one of these, Digital Sundials International can sell you one for US$12,000+, or you can buy a pocket version for under US$100 for that special nerd in your life."

10 of 269 comments (clear)

  1. Sunlight? Heard about it by SIGALRM · · Score: 5, Funny
    In the true tradition of all sundials, the device is purely passive - it operates without electricity, and has no moving parts. Instead, the sunlight is cast through two cleverly designed masks
    I live in Seattle. Just a wild guess... but I don't think these clocks are going to sell well here.
    --
    Sigs cause cancer.
  2. Defeating the purpose of the sundial by ralphart · · Score: 5, Funny

    $12,000 USD?? That doesn't seem like a very bright idea.

  3. Not until... by bourne_id · · Score: 5, Funny

    .. they have built-in calculators, can be worn on the wrist, and can run a scaled-down version of Linux.

    JMD

    --
    When all else fails, feel free to panic.
  4. Doesn't a sundial require a moving part? by I_am_Rambi · · Score: 5, Funny

    as in the earth. If the earth didn't rotate, it wouldn't work. Sorry, but there must be a moving part.

    1. Re:Doesn't a sundial require a moving part? by njfuzzy · · Score: 5, Funny

      Sundials would also work with a moving sun. ;)

      --
      My Photography - http://ian-x.com
      The Deathlings (comic) - http://thedeathlings.com
    2. Re:Doesn't a sundial require a moving part? by Penguinshit · · Score: 5, Funny


      Is that you, Aristotle?

  5. Re:What i need for Christmas!! by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


    Sundials don't work, the one I've had in my basement hasn't changed time since I installed it.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
  6. Spoiled Kids These Days... by Godling · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...will never learn to read a proper sundial.

  7. Ahh, sunlight... by revolvement · · Score: 5, Funny

    A slashdotter's arch-nemesis.

    *runs from the flames*

  8. The Equation of Time by apikoros · · Score: 5, Informative

    Although the clock is set to read in 5 or 10 minute intervals, depending on the time of year it could still be up to 16 minutes fast or slow compared to your watch or clock because of the Equation of time. Our sense of time is so conditioned by our dependence on the mechanical/digital that solar time is now percieved to be "wrong".