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Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Time's arrow



Now were on British Summer Time waking up in the morning is a little bit more of a challenge. That's where Clocky comes in handy. After the snooze button is pressed, the clock, which is equipped with padding and a set of wheels, rolls off the table to another part of the room. Each day, the clock finds a new place to hide...and, of course you have to look for it!

And then there's The Next Generation Blue Snooze which updates itself daily by listening to the radio signal from the U.S. Atomic Clock in Colorado (or Rugby if you're in England). That'€™s precision, and the design is so.... tasteful. But I think I prefer the Robotic Flip Clock. It has style - rubber feet that stick to your desk, the legs swing and the numbers flip to give the impression that it's moving towards you! Finally from Half-bakery there's the wonderful idea of the alarm clock that automatically phones in work to say you're sick!

Listening to the wonderful John Berger interview last night, I was reminded of an earlier post - time is not linear. Berger suggested that our conception of time is quite parochial. The idea of linear time, he says, is mainly a product of eighteenth century thinking. Before that, time was cyclical (or things existed out of time). We tend to view time as a locomotive force propelling ourselves into uncertain futures. Berger seemed to be saying that he thought that all events are really co-present. If that is the case, then why do we need British Summer Time, Clocky or Blue Snooze.... or four months off?

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