Why is NZ still using the 12 hour clock?

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1923 posts

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#1331747 25-Jun-2015 21:11

Why is NZ still using the 12 hour clock??

Maybe because retailers still sell 12 hour clocks, and the market can't be wrong can it?

But really it's because we're a dairying nation and the cows that need milking, twice a day, can only read the 12hr analogue clock dials. And since cows have such a huge problem with daylight saving, we'd be more likely to see cows jump over the moon than learn learn a new 24hr clock based milking system (that would still have daylight saving! ).

ScuL

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#1331825 26-Jun-2015 00:38

Geektastic:
openmedia:
The UK tends towards AM/PM for general use.

This is indeed so.

No doctor's receptionist, dentist, bus service etc would normally be quoted in anything but am/pm.

The average chav would have no idea what you were talking about if you started doing that.

Seeing as you've left the UK a long time ago, things have most definitely changed.
The UK has largely abolished the 12 hour clock in preference for the 24 hour system.

Again referring to the post of NZ going metric in 1967, long before the UK went "fully" metric it's only a matter of time until the same happens here.

Some examples from my previous home town in England where I've lived for the last 6 years:
Local doctor: http://www.bermudapractice.co.uk/opening-times.aspx?t=1
Local bus table: https://www.stagecoachbus.com/getTimetable.ashx?code=XPBO002&dir=OUTBOUND&date=25%2f06%2f2015
Even BBC iPlayer uses 24h: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/guide

Transport for London uses 24h for all schedules: https://tfl.gov.uk/tube/stop/940GZZLUWLO/waterloo-underground-station?lineId=bakerloo

The only logical reasons to stick to 12h are "tradition" / "because it has always been like that" and perhaps the argument that you wouldn't use 24 hour time in verbal communication unless you're in the military.

I think it's inevitable it will be adopted at some stage. The reason I started this thread is that I am somewhat surprised it isn't the case just yet (with a rare few exceptions).

Haere taka mua, taka muri; kaua e wha.

MikeB4

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#1331835 26-Jun-2015 06:44

I really don't see what the issue is.

floydbloke

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#1331845 26-Jun-2015 07:33

My preference too is for 24 hour clock for anything written, although I'll typically use 12 hour clock in conversation. (Could be due to growing up on the European continent.) All my devices are set for 24 hours.
I noticed that during the Super 15 , Sky TV would show upcoming games in all three countries with a 24 hour clock in both local and NZ time. I liked that very much, certainly removes any doubt.

Sidenote: I know next to nothing about the history of times and dates, but at some stage it must have been determined that there were to be 24 hours in a day, I wonder what then inspired folk to split it into two when talking about the time of the day.

Did Eric Clapton really think she looked wonderful...or was it after the 15th outfit she tried on and he just wanted to get to the party and get a drink?

scuwp

3885 posts

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#1331851 26-Jun-2015 07:47

MikeB4: I really don't see what the issue is.

This!

There are many ways to achieve the same end, each to their own. I am comfortable using both, and both should be taught. I don't particularly care who uses what method or why. Both are equally applicable.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

old3eyes

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#1331866 26-Jun-2015 08:43

MikeB4: I really don't see what the issue is.

Ahh. A voice of reason

Regards,

Old3eyes

graemeh

2078 posts

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#1331937 26-Jun-2015 10:14

old3eyes:
MikeB4: I really don't see what the issue is.

Ahh. A voice of reason

Exactly, the REAL issue here is that we should all be using UTC to remove the need to worry about timezones!

Wise

Send money globally for less with Wise - one free transfer up to NZ$900 (affiliate link).

tstone

381 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1331976 26-Jun-2015 11:27

MikeB4: I really don't see what the issue is.

I vote for this comment to be the 'answer'. Surely the majority are intelligent enough to cope with both methods of telling time so what's the issue here?

jol

56 posts

Master Geek

#1331981 26-Jun-2015 11:31

I will happily adopt 24-hour time if I can use it in speech as well. At the moment there is no way of doing that in English without sounding like you are in the military, hence English-speaking countries largely sticking to 12-hour written time. Sure, proximity to Europe is causing the British Isles to slowly move towards 24-hour written time, but on this side of the world I see no need for creating an incongruence between written and spoken time.

jimbob79

673 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1332054 26-Jun-2015 13:05

Dolly Parton: "Working 9 to 5..." or is it "Working 900 to 1700".

JonnyCam

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#1332097 26-Jun-2015 13:49

floydbloke:
Sidenote: I know next to nothing about the history of times and dates, but at some stage it must have been determined that there were to be 24 hours in a day, I wonder what then inspired folk to split it into two when talking about the time of the day.

in Egypt, time was based on sundials, and presumably some other device in the dark hours so due to 2 different clocks?

floydbloke

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#1332152 26-Jun-2015 14:53

tstone:
MikeB4: I really don't see what the issue is.

I vote for this comment to be the 'answer'. Surely the majority are intelligent enough to cope with both methods of telling time so what's the issue here?

This is the Off-Topic forum. Chances are that a large percentage of threads are irrelevant to a large number of people.

Personally if I'm browsing through the threads and come across one that doesn't interest me I typically stop reading and don't bother posting in it. I just hit the back button instead.

Did Eric Clapton really think she looked wonderful...or was it after the 15th outfit she tried on and he just wanted to get to the party and get a drink?

jmh

458 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1332189 26-Jun-2015 15:36

ojo: I set everything to 24hr but read the time as 12hr. I don't see what the issue is.

andrewNZ: NZ is moving away from both systems and moving to a customised (bastardised) system

e.g. "2 am in the morning" or "8 pm at night"

Every time I hear it I twitch.

The cousin of "$10 bucks". Bugs the crap out of me.

And ASB Bank, TSB Bank, AUT University, PIN Number, ATM Machine....

Jase2985

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#1332201 26-Jun-2015 15:50

jimbob79: Dolly Parton: "Working 9 to 5..." or is it "Working 900 to 1700".

its zero 900 or oh 900

gzt

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#1332207 26-Jun-2015 15:56

I see no evidence that 12 or 24 in the Uk is a government mandated thing. Is it?

Also referring to 12 hour time as the American system. Babylonians might have something to say about that ; )

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