Bill Collins - the Metric Time experiment

Metric Time experiment

BOSTON time	INTERNET time	BRISBANE time
Your browser is not configured to show Java 1.1 applets. This would show a clock with the time in BOSTON, USA.	Your browser is not configured to show Java 1.1 applets. This would show a clock with Swatch Internet Time.	Your browser is not configured to show Java 1.1 applets. This would show a clock with the time in BRISBANE, Aust.

My Bostonian horologist friend, Molly Kalkstein and I undertook an experiment in metric time. Molly is writing a book, and we decided that to really understand the concept of metric time, one has to live it, think it, breathe it, and generally be totally immersed in it. To this end, we lived on a totally-metric time system for a period of 10 days. No conventional time clocks were allowed to enter our lives for this period, and we had to use only metric time for all our activities. We both kept diaries of our acitvities and thoughts during this period.

The experiment/project ran from 13th through until 23rd September 2000. For metric timepieces, we used Swatch Beat watches, which have the facility to display Swatch's innovative new concept - Internet Beat Time. Essentially the day is divided into 1000 "Beats", and it is the same time all over the world. Dubbed 'Internet Time', it is set to become very popular among people playing around in the global sandpit that is cyberspace... We thank Swatch for their support in our project.

The clocks you see above are Java applets, available on the Internet. The analogue clocks are able to display different time zones, and depending upon whether it is day or night, different colours for the clock faces. The Internet time Java applet shows Swatch Beat time, up to 3 decimal places of a Beat. When the mouse cursor passes over the clock, the date in Biel, Switzerland (home of the Swatch) appears. Cool, huh? I have included links to these clock sites in the links / downloads link on the left. The experiment itself gave both of us a better understanding of how a metric day might work, and probably a clearer insight into how much we rely on time in our daily lives.

For more information about Swatch Internet Time and Beat watches, visit the Swatch web site by clicking on the Swatch logo on the left. I have also included some general information under the Swatch time link.