Re: Flashing twelves (was: Twitter successors)

On Wed, 13 Mar 2024 14:12:45 -0700
Rick Moen <[email protected]> wrote:

> Quoting Paul Zander ([email protected]):
> 
> Early on, kitchen appliances tended to have buttons labeled "clock
> set".  Not so the typical VCR.  And the manual, assuming you could
> find it, was often not well written, at least for English readers.
> The industry has come a long way in making better user interfaces.  

I think clocks should be clocks, and not what most people have, which
is:

- a phone
- with smart capability
- with software (app or OS)
- with internet access
- that connects out on the net
- to a server which has internet access
- which has software
- which has hardware

I like when technologies lean into solving problems transparently.  I
don't think this has been discussed downthread:

With the example of a device that uses the time, there is a signal
called WWVB [1] transmitted by the National Institute of Standards and
Technology [2] and devices empowered by this listen to the signal and
set themselves.

The obvious parallel is a device which connects to the internet and
a time server, but I disagree with having that sort of tech in my
VCR/etc. for reasons which are likely obvious to everyone here.

A clock was put in VCRs because it was cool, and it's put in microwaves
and ovens because they have concepts of start and stop times.  I
don't think these are good reasons to feature the time.


At a previous house, my washing machine had bluetooth and an app.  I
don't know why and I never tested it.

I can understand home alarm systems, but I'm still waiting for
technology-empowered smoke detectors.


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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWVB
[2] https://www.nist.gov/pml/time-and-frequency-division/time-distribution/radio-station-wwvb