Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Alternatives to Daylight Saving Time?

Posted by timothy on from the even-ben-franklin-made-some-whoppers dept.

Wellington Grey writes "Daylight saving time almost upon us. The arguments about its possible benefits and drawbacks come up twice every year. Does it save energy or lives? Possibly, but it does definitely cause a great deal of inconvenience. My question is this: what do you think would be the best possible system to replace DST with? What is the best way for humans to deal with the inconsistent amount of light over the year and still foster coordination over disparate time zones?"

35 of 755 comments (clear)

  1. Move to Arizona by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    We don't do DST in John McCain country.*

    *Unless you're an Indian, in which case you might.

    1. Re:Move to Arizona by stoolpigeon · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I grew up in AZ - moved to a state that does daylight savings a couple years ago. I hate it. I never felt any lack for not having it or thought, "Gee, I wished we messed with the clocks twice a year."
       
      We should replace it with nothing. Just eliminate it. It would simplify life at no cost.

      --
      It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
    2. Re:Move to Arizona by ArsonSmith · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Sorry, once the government has adopted something you can't get rid of it. You can change it for better or worse (usually worse) but it is there for ever.

      --
      Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
    3. Re:Move to Arizona by szark · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Sorry, once the government has adopted something you can't get rid of it. You can change it for better or worse (usually worse) but it is there for ever.

      Like Prohibition?

    4. Re:Move to Arizona by internerdj · · Score: 5, Interesting

      We should replace it with nothing. Just eliminate it. It would simplify life at no cost. While I agree it should be replaced it wouldn't be at no cost. 4 years ago I got tired of being late after the time switch so I bought a clock that got the time over the radio. Great right? Till two years ago when the idiots in Congress said lets change it by two weeks for no reason whatsoever. Then I had a clock that was wrong 4 times a year instead of two, because I forgot on the new date to change timezones and then it auto changed two weeks later. I had to buy a new clock after two years of that. I can't imagine how much software out there has all the daylight savings switches in the source. Even if it is just a patch someone has to update all the machines not connected to the rest of the world.

    5. Re:Move to Arizona by evanbd · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Well, now we have the new Prohibition, in the form of the War on Some Drugs. Except this time around they decided they could do it without an amendment.

    6. Re:Move to Arizona by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      A comment indicitive of someone who lives relatively close to the equator. For those of us who see a 6-12 hour difference in the number of daylight hours it can make a real difference.

    7. Re:Move to Arizona by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 5, Funny

      You can change it for better or worse...

      Random Daylight Savings Time!
      Are you late? Are you early?
      You'll never know unless you consult the weekly publication:
      "RDST: How Government Controls Daylight, and Why You Must Obey"

    8. Re:Move to Arizona by floateyedumpi · · Score: 5, Funny

      I never felt any lack for not having it or thought, "Gee, I wished we messed with the clocks twice a year."

      That's because the one thing you absolutely don't need to conserve in the sun-baked 115 degree desert of southern Arizona is..... daylight.

    9. Re:Move to Arizona by electrictroy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      >>>What is the best way for humans to deal with the inconsistent amount of light over the year

      The electric lightbulb. Specifically a 5 watt compact fluorescent. It's amazing how I can pretend it's daytime even when it's 4 a.m. in the morning. A marvelous invention, and I no longer care if the sun is up or not, and DST is irrelevant.

      --
      The government is not your daddy. Its purpose is not to raid middle-class neighbors' wallets and give it to you.
    10. Re:Move to Arizona by LandDolphin · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Apparently I need to acquire a lawn. Because words like "chillax" really annoy me. Did chill somehow need san "ax" at the end? A hybrid of two words (Chill and relax) that already mean the same thing where the hybrid is longer then both of the original words is just annoying as all hell.

      --
      Spelling and Grammar errors have been added to this post for your enjoyment
    11. Re:Move to Arizona by zakureth · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This might sound a little crazy but stick with me here:

      If the daylight hours are changing such that you are not getting daylight at times that best match your schedule: change your schedule, not the clocks.

      It's so crazy it could actually work...

      --
      Windows: The operating system built for the internet. Unix: The operating system the Internet was built for.
  2. May be ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nightdark Wasting Time ?

  3. Internet Required by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "9-5" business hours is a convention because there's no easy way to do anything different in a pre-wired world.

    Now that we have or are about to have ubiquitous Internet everywhere, companies should publish smbmeta files at domainname.foo/smbmeta.xml with their hours in it, and have every useful directory service (Google Local, Yellowpages.com, that iPhone thing, etc.) understand a linkage between a domain name and store (oh, and the phone thing too, which can usually be used as the 'foreign key'). Good VOIP phones could easily do the same. The cost is practically nil for everybody and we get past the need for conventions.

    Of course there are clustering reasons to coordinate business hours on a geographical basis, but individual businesses can make those decisions and either profit or lose business by them.

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  4. This is not a problem by slashname3 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Do away with DST. If people want/need to get up earlier or later to take advantage of the daylight then JUST GET UP EARLIER OR LATER! There is no good reason to change the clock backward and forward. Lots of places don't do it and they don't have any problems. STOP DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME!

    1. Re:This is not a problem by pixelpusher220 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      DST served a useful purpose at one time. It *does* reduce energy usage...for lighting. Back in the early part of the 20th century, the largest portion of home electrical usage was for lighting. Nowadays it's such a small part this savings has no measurable effect.

      The effect it does have is actually increasing energy usage as people crank on the AC when they get home earlier in the daylight of afternoon and it's hotter. And AC is vastly more expensive to operate than a bulb.

      --
      People in cars cause accidents....accidents in cars cause people :-D
    2. Re:This is not a problem by snl2587 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It was implemented before mankind had the ability to control light.

      Be that as it may, I'm one to prefer natural light over artificial light, and it is simply not an option to change my schedule. The way I see it, DST year-round is much better. It really comes down to personal preference, though, which makes it really hard for any democratic-ish countries to change it.

    3. Re:This is not a problem by Hatta · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Exactly this. If it's too dark when you get up or when you want to open your business, don't change the clock, change the time you get up or open your business.

      If that's too hard, lets have DST year round. Standard time is only in effect for a couple months anyway. Keeping DST through the winter would keep it light when most people get off work, which is when it actually matters anyway. I know I'd rather get up in the dark, and have an hour of daylight after work to play with, rather than getting up at dawn and wasting that hour getting ready for work.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
  5. Get rid of it by frank_adrian314159 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    See subject. Then make everyone talk in UTC. That should do it.

    --
    That is all.
    1. Re:Get rid of it by camperdave · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Then make everyone talk in UTC. That should do it.

      Almost. Everybody should be using 24 hour time as well. ie, it's now 20:40.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
  6. Forget about it by djupedal · · Score: 5, Interesting

    > "What is the best way for humans to deal with the inconsistent amount of light over the year and still foster coordination over disparate time zones?"

    Russia has a dozen time zones and fares just fine - as does China, with only one. This business of claiming that 'light' is a problem needing a solution is the only issue here...

    1. Re:Forget about it by jacks0n · · Score: 5, Funny

      We should build a shell around the earth covered in solar cells on the outside and florescent bulbs on the inside. This way we could make it the same time for everyone all the time on earth, and we'd all be equal all the time and live in perfect harmony until the dim green flickering light, the neverending ballast hum, and the sweet smell of air-conditioner mold drives us all stark-raving mad.

  7. DST is ending by self+assembled+struc · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually, DST is coming to an end. The summer is when the hours are artificially moved ahead. The winter time is the actual "accurate" earth time.

  8. How about this? by TheNecromancer · · Score: 5, Funny

    What is the best way for humans to deal with the inconsistent amount of light over the year and still foster coordination over disparate time zones?

    Turn on a lamp.

    --
    Attention all planets of the Solar Federation! We have assumed control! - Neil Peart
  9. Standard Time is Upon us! by Saint+Stephen · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually, we are in Daylight Savings Time right now. We are getting ready to go back to Standard Time.

  10. Wrong! by eln · · Score: 5, Funny

    The issue with DST is not that it's inconvenient, it's that it's insufficiently precise! We should be changing the time every day (at least!) to make sure our time is as accurate as possible to the length of the day. Every day, 12 noon should be when the Sun is directly overhead, no matter where you are.

    Sure, this means changing time zones almost continuously while travelling, and at least daily while remaining stationary, but at least we won't have to deal with the confusion that comes from discovering that the Sun is directly overhead at 12:00:34 instead of 12 noon sharp! How can we call ourselves intelligent beings when our time system is so woefully inaccurate most of the time?

    So, scrap daylight savings time and replace it with a system of several thousand time zones, each updated daily based on the predicted "high noon" for that particular day at that particular location. If the prediction ends up being off by a few microseconds on a particular day, just change the time to correct it right then and there! Sure, wristwatches will become orders of magnitude more complex, but it's the only way to have a truly sane and accurate system of time measurement. And after all, isn't that what we all really want here?

  11. Re:My proposal by Waffle+Iron's+VCR · · Score: 5, Funny

    12:00, 12:00, 12:00, 12:00

  12. Re:Let's just use Zulu time... by CRCulver · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nah, I think we should use Swatch Internet Time. Did you know that sales of Swatch Internet Time watches doubled between 1998 and 1999? If these trends continue, the lame 12-hour and 24-hour clocks will go the way of the dinosaur.

  13. DTS already replaced... by jddj · · Score: 5, Funny

    what do you think would be the best possible system to replace DTS with?

    I think DTS disappeared with the release of SQL Server 2005. I'm pretty sure it's all .NET code now...

  14. Re:My proposal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Where is the blink tag when you need it?

  15. Re:My proposal by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can't believe you registered a new account just for that comment! :)

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  16. Currently living in Arizona by logicassasin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Moved here from Michigan 5 years ago. I don't miss DST at all. I just know that when I wake up at 5am, during the spring/summer, it's nearly broad daylight and in the colder months it's pitch black out. Right now, it's pitch black at 5am, at 5:30, I see some sunlight, by the time I get in my car at 6-615:am, it's daylight.

    Right now, I see the idiodicy of DST. You don't actually get more daylight, we just fool you into thinking you do.

    --
    Fifty watts per channel, baby cakes.
  17. Yeah! by Estanislao+Mart�nez · · Score: 5, Funny

    That sounds like a great idea. Let's get together and start planning the transition, tomorrow at noon.

    --

    Are you adequate?

  18. Re:My proposal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Comma- the 16th century blink tag!

  19. The Sun is not a bulb by violet16 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Not to stereotype Slashdot readers or anything, but I notice nobody sees any difference between sunlight and electric light. If you go outdoors during the day, you may be surprised to find daylight has many ambient properties not provided by your basement's fluorescent bulb (warmth, happy feelings, etc).

    --
    I should buy some cement.