<p>Why, why, why, WHY do people have to say EST or PST or CDT or lord knows what? WHY!?</p>
<p>This is kind of a rant thread. It just bugs the hell out of me when people use 3-letter-codes to stand for a time zone when it takes 2 seconds more - I'm not lying to you here, only 2 seconds - to type GMT +whatever or GMT -whatever. Isn't it just a lot simpler to do the latter? Or am I crazy? =(</p>
<p>No. EST is easier. </p>
<p>And no one knows their GMT +X number. Plus, the GMT number doesn’t stay constant because we have Daylight Saving Time. EST and our letters stay constant.</p>
<p>^ Romani has it right…</p>
<p>Although I know my GMT number but that’s mostly because in the UK it’s zero…</p>
<p>Actually, you have EST (eastern Standard Time) and EDT (Eastern Daylight Time), if I’m not mistaken.</p>
<p>Still, much easier to say EST than GMT -5.</p>
<p>Time zones screw up my head. Why can’t everyone have the same time. Would it really kill anyone to go to sleep at say 3 instead of 10?</p>
<p>bahh! I hate having to convert American time zones all the time. I wish people worked in terms of GMT, or even better, (HK time ± X) LOL</p>
<p>@romani
Yeah, but isn’t it easier to adjust your own GMT/GDT time? I’ve always found it easier converting times when I have a GMT/GDT number as opposed to when I have to Google the time zone.</p>
<p>My reasoning is that it’s easier for everyone to know and give their own time in terms of GMT/GDT as opposed to having everyone else know what the time for a certain location is relative to their own.</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>I personally HATE having to look it up/use the time thingy at the bottom of Windows XP :P.</p>
<p>This site is primarily US based, so why would anyone bother? I’m a member at a number of largely European and they all use GMT +Offset for their time zones.</p>
<p>^ I’m not talking about this site. I mean on the internet in general, I have almost never come across anyone using GMT+/-.</p>
<p>Are you on all primarily American sites? If so please refer back to my first sentence in my previous sentence and replace each one of those sites with “This site” and it should answer your question.</p>
<p>Most sites that we will go on are American, and therefore use American times :rolleyes:</p>
<p>No one in America uses GMT. I had to look mine up since I had no idea what it was. If you’re going to do international work, then it’s worth it to know. But if you’re never leaving America then it’s really not worth your time to memorize your GMT +X number. Ever.</p>
<p>@Harvey, for a number of reasons:
1- We sleep at night and therefore use MUCH less energy than if we were nocturnal.
2- Many people can’t sleep with a room full of light. </p>
<p>Sure there’s more, but that’s what I can think of.
China has one time system- wonder how it’s working out for them?</p>
<p>Romani, I think his point that it doesn’t matter what time we call it. Like why can’t we all go by the same time, and some people will sleep at 3PM, but that will be nighttime for them.</p>
<p>Actually, I’m pretty sure China has just one timezone, officially. The USSr tried that too, I hear, but for some reason it didn’t work out.</p>
<p>References to time would no longer make any sense if the whole time system were changed. We have a good system, why change it?</p>
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<p>That’s not what he was saying. He’s just saying that throughout the world people would all have their clocks saying the same number at the same time. If everyone were, say, on EST, Californians who normally went to bed at midnight would just start going to bed at 3 AM. Same time, same amount of light, different name.</p>
<p>Ah ok- I get it now. Sorry, what I thought of was China’s where they all work at the same time, regardless of how much light there is.</p>