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-- ISO 8601 Time Standard: What do you think about it?

ISO 8601 Time Standard: What do you think about it?

I think it's GREAT because there's NO confusion between any dates. The format is "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS". The YYYY is where the year goes, the MM is where the month number goes, and the DD is where the date goes. For times, 24 hour format is used so, the number of hours since Midnight goes where the HH is, number of minutes since the beginning of the current hour goes where the MM goes, and the same for the seconds, in SS. Ever saw a date that looked like this: 02/03/04. To different people, a different date is interpreted. To most Americans, it's "Febuary 3rd, 2004". To most Europeans and Asians except certain countries (those places use YYYY/MM/DD format), it means "the 2nd of March, 2004". To a Japanese, Chinese, Korean, or any European that uses the Year, Month, Day order, it means "the 4th of March, 2002".
As you can see, 4 digit years CAN help, in SOME situations but, NOT in ALL situations (mainly Month/Day related). That's why ISO came up with a "standard" International Numerical format. Using a 4 digit year and having the most significant part of the date/time come first, there never will be ANY confusion. Look at this date: 2002-05-01. Chances are, when you see it now, you interpret it as "the 1st of May, 2002", right? http://www.saqqara.demon.co.uk/datefmt.htm explains what I just told you and it's involvment in the Internet, where it is VERY important. Also, for more info on the standard search "ISO 8601" in Yahoo. You'll get MUCH more than what I just told you. On that site that i just gave you, there are advantages of this standard and disadvantages to others. Read them, and decide for yourself.
What I want to know from you is: How do you like it and would you use it? If not, why not?

The standardization would be great but there's always going to be people resisting change and going by the system they are used to. Living proof - Imperial measurement system still being used in the United States.

I don't mind using....although it will take some time...

quote:

Originally posted by skywarp The standardization would be great but there's always going to be people resisting change and going by the system they are used to. Living proof - Imperial measurement system still being used in the United States.

word..

miles wth. who cares.. get over it and start using SI units..

quote:

Originally posted by drizzt81 word.. miles wth. who cares.. get over it and start using SI units..

I know! Everyone else in the world uses Metric and it was tested in USA around the 1970s but, the Americans didn't want it and decided to still use the Imperial System! Same thing with 24 hour time: Only thing different: It never was even TRIED in USA because everyone calls it "Military Time" and people think it's easier with AM/PM, rather than just have the time, like "22:30". What's easier than that? AM/PM REALLY is MORE confusing than 24 hour time because the day starts at 12:00 AM. The number "12" isn't the first number in ANY counting system and the time-of-day means "how much time has elapsed in the day so far?". AM/PM screws that up because when it's 03:30 PM, 15 hours, 30 minutes has elapsed in the day but, clocks show "03:30", which means 3 hours, 30 minutes has elapsed since NOON. Isn't it confusing?

In Japan, they use both systems, however, with AM/PM, there is no 12, times between Midnight and 01:00 and between NOON and 13:00 are shown as "00:XX" (X means any value). This make a BIT more sense than in the US, where the day begins at 12:00 AM. Whenever I try to teach the 24 hour system to people who are using the AM/PM system, they just CAN'T UNDERSTAND. I wonder why. 24 hour is DEFINITELY easier (and shorter). Also, when you say "6 O'Clock" in the USA, people would wonder which "one"? AM or PM? In 24 hour system, there's only ONE 6 O'Clock and that's in the morning. 18:00 is the time when 6 hours has elapsed since Midday.

One thing I have always wondered about is: In 24 hour time, how do you say times like 13:00, 14:00, 15:00, etc.? Do you say "13 O'Clock"? "13 Hundred Hours" (like in the military), "13 hours"? Which is the correct one? And what about times that are between Midnight and 01:00, like 00:30? Do you say "Zero-Zero Thirty"? "30 minutes past Midnight"?

see the interesting thing is that in Germany, while we use 24 hr clocks, no-one walks around and says 17:30... at least not often.. Whenever i talk to friends, I'd say like 'let's meet at five-thiry' and everyone knows that i am not talking about 05:30, but about 17:30...

now, when i need to take care that i mention the real time, i will say 20:15, but often times it is not needed. Anyhow, I do prefer 24 hour time, since i get totally confused when someone says 12:15am...

is that 00:15 or is it actually 12:15?!?!?


anyhow, standards are good! S/I units are really nice, especially, since it is much easier to remember (1k = 1000 no matter if grams, meter or something else).. yet it appears that my american classmates have more trouble with that than with remembering that there are 5231.734264791642316 feet per mile (or whatever the correct number MAY be, since it does not really matter)

quote:

Originally posted by drizzt81 see the interesting thing is that in Germany, while we use 24 hr clocks, no-one walks around and says 17:30... at least not often.. Whenever i talk to friends, I'd say like 'let's meet at five-thiry' and everyone knows that i am not talking about 05:30, but about 17:30... now, when i need to take care that i mention the real time, i will say 20:15, but often times it is not needed. Anyhow, I do prefer 24 hour time, since i get totally confused when someone says 12:15am... is that 00:15 or is it actually 12:15?!?!? anyhow, standards are good! S/I units are really nice, especially, since it is much easier to remember (1k = 1000 no matter if grams, meter or something else).. yet it appears that my american classmates have more trouble with that than with remembering that there are 5231.734264791642316 feet per mile (or whatever the correct number MAY be, since it does not really matter)

It's weird that no one states the time in 24 hour format since that's what you use... Anyway, 1 mile is 5280 Feet or 1760 Yards. SI is MUCH earier because eveything is based on 10. Like Deca-, Kilo-, Mega-, Giga-, Tera-, Peta-, Exa-, etc....

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