• Halosheep@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    3 months ago

    Real talk, is there some benefit to an analog clock that would prevent them from all being replaced by digital ones? Being able to know exactly the time in a moment’s glance seems better to me.

    They’re certainly not better looking than a digital one, considering most of the ones used in schools are just the cheapest and most basic version they can get.

    Power requirements maybe? Longevity?

    • AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      3 months ago

      It proves to be somewhat useful as an example when trying to teach fractions and decimals, something we are absolutely terrible at teaching. Incomprehension of fraction to decimal conversion is why 90% of people who say they are bad at math, say they are bad at math.

        • AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          3 months ago

          I wouldn’t say that’s the sole purpose, just an additional purpose to being able to tell time. It’s also useful if the kid wants to be a pilot.

          • PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            3 months ago

            So what are the purposes? Nobody uses analog clocks anymore so afaict:

            1. To teach fractions
            2. Something to do with being a pilot???

            What am I missing? 😛

            • Bytemeister@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              Ελληνικά
              arrow-up
              0
              ·
              3 months ago

              Clockwise, counter clockwise. Classic time shorthand (IE, half past ten, quarter to eleven). Time estimations (easy to see a half minute on a analog clock, digital just goes from 2:00 to 2:01)

              I think analog clock displays are more elegant, and are overall nicer than digital. Personal preference though.

      • WldFyre@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        3 months ago

        Lol I don’t think that’s true, and I don’t think those words work the way you used them anyway

        • RaoulDook@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          3 months ago

          Sounds like you just didn’t understand. Each hour of the 12 on the clock takes up 30° of the circle, and we measure time in cycles of hours, minutes, seconds that all match up well with the 360° of a circle.

          • WldFyre@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            3 months ago

            Cutting pizza would also teach kids a geometrical understanding of how circles work, I don’t see how that translates at all to being innate to reading a clock. I know tons of people who can read a clock who suck at math. It seems like an incredibly weak assertion.

            • RaoulDook@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              0
              ·
              3 months ago

              Making any excuse to not learn how analog clocks work is what’s really a weak assertion. It’s not that fucking hard.

    • windpunch@feddit.org
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      edit-2
      3 months ago

      Genuine question, how precise do you need the time to be? Maybe you actually need precise readings for something. I figured that “on the 5 min marker”, “slightly before/behind the 5 min marker” and “in the middle of two 5 min markers” is precise enough for me. And I I see a hand at these positions faster than reading numbers.

      I think for precise readings (eg. entering the time I start working), the speed is the same for me, but obviously I didn’t test this.

      I also think looking at the time but then still not knowing what time it is happens less on an analog clock.

      I don’t know how much personal preference influences this though.

    • pseudopsyche@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      3 months ago

      I prefer analogue clocks because I tend to have time blindness with ADHD, and it’s easier to see at a glance how much time is visually left in an hour or how much time is passing with an analogue clock. Just knowing that “15 min left” isn’t really as effective as being able to see a visual representation of “15 min left”, for example.

    • Faresh@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      3 months ago

      Being able to know exactly the time in a moment’s glance seems better to me.

      That seems more like a pro for analogue to me. It’s much easier with an analogue clock since you get a visual presentation of time. Whenever someone tells me a time, I have to first imagine an analogue clock to understand what that time means.

      • Scrath@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        3 months ago

        Honestly that’s just about being used to one versus the other. For me it’s basically the other way around

    • pixelscript@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      edit-2
      3 months ago

      An analog clock is just three sets of loading bars with their ends glued together. You can tell geometrically what proportion of each division of time (day, hour, and minute) are spent and what proportion remains. You don’t even need the numbers.

      If you need stopwatch-level precision, sure, a digital display is superior. But how often do you need that? Most of what I need clocks for is, “Oh, it’s about a quarter to noon, I have a lunch appointment to get to”.

      It is my personal preference to visually intuit that the clock hands are roughly separating the hour into 3/4 spent and 1/4 remaining and use that to know how much time I have left to the hour, rather than read the symbols “42” on the display and manually do the mental gymnastics of “well that’s basically 45, which is three quarters of the way to 60 minutes”.

      I’ll admit this benefit is marginal.

      • Halosheep@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        3 months ago

        I think that’s an interesting way to look at it. I find it easier to do the mental gymnastics, as you call it.

    • kshade@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      3 months ago

      They convey time instantly, without reading. You don’t even need the numbers for them to work. It’s like showing a progress bar versus just giving the percentage as a number.