I’m going to talk with you about a problem that doesn’t seem like a problem. I’m going to talk with you about your relationship with time. Here’s a question you probably don’t ask yourself.
Does time work for you?
We generally think of time as a fixed, established system. We look at our very accurate phones and the time is given to us. But it wasn’t always this way.
Brief History of time. Sundials, clocks and watches.
The
water clocks, which were probably first used in the
Ancient Greeks, who called them clepsydrae. The
candle clock, used in
ancient Japan,
England and Mesopotamia; the
timestick, widely used in
India and
Tibet, as well as some parts of
Europe; and the
hourglass, which functioned similarly to a water clock. The
sundial, another early clock, relies on shadows to provide a good estimate of the hour on a sunny day. It is not so useful in cloudy weather or at night and requires recalibration as the seasons change (if the
gnomon was not aligned with the
rotational energy into intermittent motions,
[1] dates back to 3rd century bc in
Chinese engineers later invented clocks incorporating
Iranian engineers inventing water clocks driven by
gears and
mechanical clocks, employing the
foliot or
pendulum clock was invented in 1656. The invention of the
mainspring in the early 15th century allowed portable clocks to be built, evolving into the first
pocketwatches by the 17th century.
Railroads and the internet.
Railway time was the standardised time arrangement first applied by the Great Western Railway in England in November 1840, the first recorded occasion when different local times were synchronised and a single standard time applied.
Modern day anomalies.
Ethiopia and the 12 hour clock.
I get it, so it doesn’t HAVE to be measured the way we measure it. But how could we change time and why would we want to?
As an example, I made a prototype.
ElasticTime is an experimental web app that is extremely simple. Its about using technology to create our own experience of time.
I’d like to experiment with the rules of time so I can experience time in different ways to find the time that’s right for me. To extend its functionality I’d like to connect with my calendar and translate my appointments and reminders.
