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Daylight Saving Time Isn't Worth It, European Parliament Members Say (arstechnica.com)
AmiMoJo shares a report from Ars Technica: Earlier this week, the European Parliament voted 384 to 153 to review whether Daylight Saving Time is actually worth it. Although the resolution it voted on was non-binding, the majority reflected a growing dissatisfaction with a system that has been used by the U.S., Canada, most of Europe, and regions in Asia, Africa, and South America for decades. The resolution asked the European Commission to review the costs and benefits of Daylight Saving Time. If the EU were to abolish Daylight Saving Time, it would need approval of the majority of EU member states and EU Parliament members.
"We think that there's no need to change the clocks," Ireland Member of European Parliament (MEP) Sean Kelly said to Deutsche Welle. "It came in during World War One, it was supposed to be for energy savings -- the indications are that there are very few energy savings, if any -- and there are an awful lot of disadvantages to both human beings and animals that make it outdated at this point."
"We think that there's no need to change the clocks," Ireland Member of European Parliament (MEP) Sean Kelly said to Deutsche Welle. "It came in during World War One, it was supposed to be for energy savings -- the indications are that there are very few energy savings, if any -- and there are an awful lot of disadvantages to both human beings and animals that make it outdated at this point."
65N here and I haven't met a single person who thinks DST is a good idea, even when the clocks go forward.
Just as the autumn proper ends and it turns really dark, grey and nasty for November-season, you lose an hour of daylight in the evening along with a good chunk of your will to live. By the time you get to December the sun might bother to drag its arse over the horizon by 10:30, but it'll never get above the trees and it'll be back in bed by 2:30. The kids are going to school in the dark and coming home in the dark, whether we faff about with the clock or not.
Here, DST is a swift kick in the nuts when you need it the least. Much further north and there's no daylight to save.
The problem I have with getting rid of it is that I very, very strongly prefer the summer time - but the "original" time is winter time. I want DST for the whole of the year.
Exactly, and that's why I strongly prefer DST for the whole year. Without DST it would be dark an hour sooner in the summer. I don't want that. Where I live (Portugal) people stay up long and get up late. Our time zone is wrong.
And having fixed standard work times is just as idiotic as the idea of daylight saving...
The majority of us don't work in fields or require natural daylight to do our jobs anymore.
Many of us have to deal with clients or suppliers in other countries who don't work at the same time anyway.
Many businesses are intentionally open outside of regular working hours because that's the only time many customers can go there (retail, restaurants etc).
Travel congestion is a serious problem in terms of time wasted, the unpleasantness of the congestion and environmental impact. You end up with transport infrastructure thats massively overcrowded for a few hours a day, and mostly idle for the rest of the day/night.
Many businesses operate 24/7.
Many call centers are located far away from the locations they serve (eg lots of indian call centers serve customers in the us and uk despite a huge timezone difference).
Just because something has always been done a certain way, doesn't mean that is still the best way.
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Direct democracy is even more dangerous. It just takes a well-crafted series of facebook posts to convince millions they're in danger, and their votes can be swayed.
Removing the standard 9-5 working hours would be a far more sensible thing to do. Having everyone trying to get to and from work at the same time causes peak loads on roads and public transport and often results in lots of stationary cars sitting and polluting but not moving anywhere. In the UK, it's particularly stupid synchronisation because most shops use it as well and so ensure that they're open only when people with jobs can't go to them because they're at work.
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Set your alarm clock an hour earlier then
As a morning person myself, I just do things earlier in the day then others tend to do. Chances are your job will be slightly accommodating, allowing you get in an hour early and leave an hour early. As this normally expands the coverage in the company.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
We've done that a long time ago. We even did away with a having to be at work at a certain time. And guess what: It works.
Yes, some people start at 6am. Some come in around 11am. But there's plenty of overlap that you can get a meeting scheduled, and a lot of NON-overlap so you can actually get work done, too, because you can't stuff that time with more meetings. Which led to people actually thinking before scheduling yet another useless hour long meeting for something that can be resolved in 2 emails.
This way the ones that want some precious afternoon rays can get them by getting out around 3pm while those that value their morning sleep can arrive just before lunch (and are actually awake by then instead of waddling in like zombies at 9am and require an hour and three coffee just to be barely functional).
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Not changing anything seems to be the more sensible alternative.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Earlier this week, the European Parliament voted 384 to 153 to review whether Daylight Saving Time is actually worth it. Although the resolution it voted on was non-binding, the majority reflected a growing dissatisfaction with a system that has been used by the U.S., Canada, most of Europe, and regions in Asia, Africa, and South America for decades.
I don't think anyone minds Daylight Saving Time itself. What they mind is the needless switching back and forth. Personally I want us to go to Daylight Saving Time permanently. It gives me the most daylight hours in the evening after work when I can made the most use of them. I don't need noon to be the point in the day when the sun is highest overhead. I'm perfectly fine with noon being defined in the manner with the greatest utility for the most people. If that means noon is what currently is 3pm then so be it.
So you end up going to work at 22:00 and return at 08:00 and it's all in the daylight, so what , these are just numbers. Travel planning will be simplified and so will arranging meetings where people join on-line from different time zones.
You optimize for the common use case.......talking about 9:00AM and expecting people to know it's morning is a much more common use case than needing to change your watch when you travel.
If I say, "Oh, it's 7:00PM in your time zone?" everyone already knows it's after standard business hours there.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
I used to love coming in to work early, because I could dos about posting on Slashdot while no-one else was around, and then knock off early and post on Slashdot from home for a few extra hours ever evening.
Then I realized I can just post on Slashdot all day at work on no-one seems to notice, so I only get up just in time to roll in to work right on time.
You think I'm joking.
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