Perfecttear
10-30-2009, 04:32 AM
Just a simple poll, for something i'm wondering.:D
Which do you prefere, the 12 hour clock system or the 24 hour clock system ?
Advantages of the 12-hour clock
* Typical analog clock faces are divided into 12 hours, with each hour point in addition serving as five minutes, which lines up well with a 12-hour system.
* Restricting the hour numbers to the range from 1 to 12 can accommodate a preference for monosyllabic words, which applies to many European languages (including English, French, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian), in which most of the 12 are monosyllabic, opposed to the 13–24 range, in which none of those numbers are monosyllabic.
* The use of 12 rather than 0 for the first hour of each period avoids using a leading zero.
* Clocks with a chime universally chime between hours 1 to 12, but deviate in approach for hour 0 and hours 13 to 23.
Advantages of the 24-hour clock
* There is no ambiguity between noon or midnight, whereas confusion exists on this issue with the 12-hour system.
* There is no ambiguity between midnight at the start and end of a date, whereas confusion exists on this issue with the 12-hour system.
* The duration of time intervals is easier to see in the 24-hour notation. From 10:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. is 5 hours. From 10:30 until 15:30 indicates this more clearly.
* The transition from 23:59 to 00:00, provides a clear reminder that a new date starts, which is less obvious in the equivalent 11:59 p.m. to "12:00 a.m." (midnight) transition.
* The 24-hour notation does not require the suffix "a.m." or "p.m.", making it shorter, which saves space.
* Sorting is more obvious in 24-hour notation. The lexicographical order is the same as the chronological order, a property exploited by ISO 8601. The sequence of 24-hour times 00:30 < 11:30 < 12:30 < 23:30 stays in the same sequence by a lexicographical sort. The same sequence expressed in 12-hour system, would be ordered differently by a lexicographical sort: "11:30 a.m." < "11:30 p.m." < "12:30 a.m." < "12:30 p.m.".
* As digital clocks sometimes provide little indication (often only a dot with no visible label in the dark) of whether the displayed time is a.m. or p.m., there is a tendency to incorrectly set the alarm or the time (or both) on them. The 24-hour system does not have this issue.
* It is possible to differentiate between night and day even in sealed environments, and near the poles with midnight sun, whereas the 12-hour system (at least on clocks with dials) relies on sight, and near sunrise/sunset a guess if the sun going up or down.
Criticism and practical problems
People who grew up with the 24-hour clock see the 12-hour notation as a less practical and outdated convention, especially in the context of written communication, computers and digital clocks. Further, they may be confused when they come across situations very common in Internet forums and email, in which a message indicated as posted at "12:46 am" appears before a message marked "11:05 am". (These arguments may be compared to the discussion on metrication.)
The disadvantages commonly voiced in comparing the 12-hour notation to the 24-hour clock are:
* confusion about the correct notation for noon and midnight
* confusion about the difference between midnight at the start and end of a given date
* The rollover from 12 to 1 happens an hour later than the change between a.m. and p.m.
* It is not immediately clear on an analogue clock whether a time in another time zone is a.m. or p.m.[clarification needed]
* The lexicographical order does not match the chronological order.
* It is more complicated to implement in software and digital electronics.
* Typographically, the a.m. and p.m. terms require more space.
THe 12 hour system is currently the dominant system of time written and spoken in 11 countries , and the 24 hour system is the dominant system of time used in 181 countries.
Yeah i'm bored :p
Which do you prefere, the 12 hour clock system or the 24 hour clock system ?
Advantages of the 12-hour clock
* Typical analog clock faces are divided into 12 hours, with each hour point in addition serving as five minutes, which lines up well with a 12-hour system.
* Restricting the hour numbers to the range from 1 to 12 can accommodate a preference for monosyllabic words, which applies to many European languages (including English, French, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian), in which most of the 12 are monosyllabic, opposed to the 13–24 range, in which none of those numbers are monosyllabic.
* The use of 12 rather than 0 for the first hour of each period avoids using a leading zero.
* Clocks with a chime universally chime between hours 1 to 12, but deviate in approach for hour 0 and hours 13 to 23.
Advantages of the 24-hour clock
* There is no ambiguity between noon or midnight, whereas confusion exists on this issue with the 12-hour system.
* There is no ambiguity between midnight at the start and end of a date, whereas confusion exists on this issue with the 12-hour system.
* The duration of time intervals is easier to see in the 24-hour notation. From 10:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. is 5 hours. From 10:30 until 15:30 indicates this more clearly.
* The transition from 23:59 to 00:00, provides a clear reminder that a new date starts, which is less obvious in the equivalent 11:59 p.m. to "12:00 a.m." (midnight) transition.
* The 24-hour notation does not require the suffix "a.m." or "p.m.", making it shorter, which saves space.
* Sorting is more obvious in 24-hour notation. The lexicographical order is the same as the chronological order, a property exploited by ISO 8601. The sequence of 24-hour times 00:30 < 11:30 < 12:30 < 23:30 stays in the same sequence by a lexicographical sort. The same sequence expressed in 12-hour system, would be ordered differently by a lexicographical sort: "11:30 a.m." < "11:30 p.m." < "12:30 a.m." < "12:30 p.m.".
* As digital clocks sometimes provide little indication (often only a dot with no visible label in the dark) of whether the displayed time is a.m. or p.m., there is a tendency to incorrectly set the alarm or the time (or both) on them. The 24-hour system does not have this issue.
* It is possible to differentiate between night and day even in sealed environments, and near the poles with midnight sun, whereas the 12-hour system (at least on clocks with dials) relies on sight, and near sunrise/sunset a guess if the sun going up or down.
Criticism and practical problems
People who grew up with the 24-hour clock see the 12-hour notation as a less practical and outdated convention, especially in the context of written communication, computers and digital clocks. Further, they may be confused when they come across situations very common in Internet forums and email, in which a message indicated as posted at "12:46 am" appears before a message marked "11:05 am". (These arguments may be compared to the discussion on metrication.)
The disadvantages commonly voiced in comparing the 12-hour notation to the 24-hour clock are:
* confusion about the correct notation for noon and midnight
* confusion about the difference between midnight at the start and end of a given date
* The rollover from 12 to 1 happens an hour later than the change between a.m. and p.m.
* It is not immediately clear on an analogue clock whether a time in another time zone is a.m. or p.m.[clarification needed]
* The lexicographical order does not match the chronological order.
* It is more complicated to implement in software and digital electronics.
* Typographically, the a.m. and p.m. terms require more space.
THe 12 hour system is currently the dominant system of time written and spoken in 11 countries , and the 24 hour system is the dominant system of time used in 181 countries.
Yeah i'm bored :p