Reply With QuoteWhat a load of old cobblers. Most people who can count to 24 would be able to learn it in less than 5 minutes. Give the kids some credit for intelligence.
Interesting article in today's Times:
Link for thoe with an account: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/7...6-10ccf4ec8de6
Here's the piece:
Dilemma for clock face as smartphone generation loses ability to tell the time
Time is ticking for the traditional clock face as the smartphone generation loses the ability to tell the time.
More than a fifth of 18 to 24-year-olds struggle to understand a conventional clock with hands and only half of this age group, known as Generation Z, say that they never struggle to tell the time.
Millennials, who reached adulthood in the early part of this century, do little better: nearly one in five 25 to 34-year-olds admits that they also have difficulty with the big and little hands.
By contrast, only 4 per cent of over-55s say they have such a problem.
The YouGov survey of more than 2,000 people suggests that an increasing proportion of those in every passing generation struggle to read analogue clock faces, raising the prospect that the ability will eventually disappear, perhaps maintained only by a small number of enthusiasts.
By the time the present generation of 18 to 24-year-olds retires, the majority of young people will not be able to tell the time on clocks easily, the trend suggests.
The research is potentially damaging news for traditional watchmakers as their market shrinks with every year. In Switzerland, the watch industry accounts for 1.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and employs tens of thousands of people.
Experts blame the decline on the ubiquity of smartphones and smartwatches, which have increasingly become consumers’ digital pocket watches. The first iPhone was launched 12 years ago, meaning that Generation Z grew up with these devices and millennials were exposed to them in their formative teenage and early adult years.
The Marloe Watch Company, the British wristwatch designer that commissioned the research, said that digital devices had become the “primary” way for younger people to tell the time, with wristwatches becoming a “personal preference rather than a necessity”.
Oliver Goffe, co-founder of the company, said: “Generation Zers are our future prime ministers, teachers and doctors. The fact that they might not be able to tell the time if they can’t find a phone charger could be an issue.”
Sundials were the first time-measuring devices known to man. They are generally thought to have been invented in ancient Babylon. Greek, Roman and, latterly, Chinese engineers then developed water clocks. It was not until the turn of the 14th century in Europe that mechanical clocks were introduced, with the invention of the verge escapement.
Hands move clockwise in imitation of the sundial because they were invented in the northern hemisphere.
Clocks are believed to have been introduced to England from the Low Countries and the English word clock derives from the Middle Dutch klocke, which itself comes from the medieval Latin word for bell, clogga.
Early clocks had only an hour hand, which often looked like a hand. Minute hands were introduced in the late 17th century after the invention of the pendulum and anchor escapement, allowing precision. In 1793 the French tried to introduce decimal time with 100 minutes to the hour and ten hours in a day.
What a load of old cobblers. Most people who can count to 24 would be able to learn it in less than 5 minutes. Give the kids some credit for intelligence.
"Hands move clockwise in imitation of the sundial because they were invented in the northern hemisphere."
Dichotomy, anachronism (yes - I know), familiarism, xenophobia, or something else - discuss.
Security guard where I work, in his early 20’s, can not read the wall clock in their gatehouse. Needless to say he gets some rib taken out of him. I watched a YouTube clip recently where they stopped youngsters in the street to read an analogue clock, their replies were hilarious.
Here you go...
https://youtu.be/ZvLKbhXqEKw
It doesn't surprise me. In the local corner shop on the way to work a while back, with 2 lads in front of me (probably juniors, I'd say 9 or 10). One says to the other that they might be late for school - there was an analogue clock on display - and asks the other "can you tell time?" (sic). Nope, the other one couldn't either. Pretty poor at that age I thought, but then I'm an old fart. Kids these days etc..
Cheers,
Plug
Just tech evolution I guess, just like I can’t use a slide rule or abacus, I could probably still program a 1982 Panasonic VHS recorder timer but my kids couldn’t. If you don’t need to, why would you?
Cheers..
Jase
Like a broken watch, you are sometimes right:-)Originally Posted by Mick P
When you are right, you are right.👍
Agree with this. My son is being taught it in school now, he is 7 - admittedly he already knew how to (Daddy's watch collection has always interested him) but you now need to know to tell the time to nearest 5 mins, in the past it has been to closest 15 mins.
Am I alone in finding a clock face much easier to read at a glance than a digital display? - quarter to 12 I read as a ‘shape’ almost, as opposed to a digital 11:45 which I have to process - if that makes sense? - same with my car, I can change it to fully digital but I can see the speed and revs with my peripheral vision much more easily with analogue dials.
Lots of youngsters in my office have smart watches - and nearly all have analogue dials as their chosen display option, so I think this is a bit of an error to assume smart watch = digital display.
But I’m going to say it - a lot of youngsters, even those with good qualifications, appear to have massive gaps in their general knowledge along the lines of ‘didn’t WW2 end in the 1960’s?’ that nothing would surprise me tbh!!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
When I visited the Imperial War Museum last year overheard some quality chat:
"Oh, so the Nazi's were the bad guys" and "That gun is mint in COD"
I work with 14-16 yr olds. I would estimate that at least 6 out of 10 can't read an analogue clock.
Food for thought for those considering buying a watch for their offspring and presenting it to them when they reach 18.
how about parents teach them its not that difficult.
Indeed, and no need to do 'maths' with an analogue dial.
If it's 10:40, I can immediately see that if something is half an hour later it will be at 11:10.
I had a girlfriend years ago who, due to childhood illness, missed out on being taught how to tell the time. Always wore a digital.
I’ve always struggled with long division for the same reason!
They just weren't taught properly. :)
Many years ago I wore a Casio digital for work, I had an analogye watch for leisure time but the Casio got most wrist time. After getting into watches I started wearing a ‘proper’ watch and didn’t wear a digital Casio for a long time. 3 years ago I got a Casio for gym and DIY, and I now find it counter- intuitive to read a digital watch! Glancing at an analogue is far easier for me, I almost gave to ‘think’ what the real time is when I look at the digital.
Haha, came here to post this! Love Dave Allen. 👍🏻
Me too, that routine is brilliant.
I think I watch his collection of religious jokes on YouTube about once a month, never fails to make me laugh!
Last edited by CaptainRockNRoll; 11th December 2019 at 19:12.
Is the correct answer, assuming of course the parents know how to read an analogue clock.
My son was able to tell time before is started primary school, although trying to explain why we had 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour and 60 seconds in a minute was tricky. It was even more tricky trying to explain that the little hand had to go round twice each day, but the big hand only has to go round once to complete one hour.
It might have been easier with a Franck Muller 24 hour watch thinking about it
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Shame on you!!
You should get one of these to practice on:
My youngest son has Down’s, and has no problem telling the time on an analogue dial - I think it helps that it actually shows the ‘passage of time’ when to him a digital is just a jumble of numbers. He has quite severe learning difficulties but (much time my delight) he gets the appeal of a ‘proper’ watch!
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? Shadows in the Northern Hemisphere move clockwise. In the Southern Hemisphere where the sun's relative position is reversed shadows move anti-clockwise. (Modern) clocks were invented in the northern hemisphere so ipso facto, clocks in the Northern Hemisphere followed the same direction.
If the first (modern) clocks had been invented in the Southern H - the hands may have gone what we call "anti-clockwise". How fun is that! Can't see any xenophobia involved - it's physics.
Last edited by MartynJC (UK); 11th December 2019 at 21:57.
Yes - but things didn't move clockwise before clocks were invented, did they! The M25 must have been closed due to ongoing roadworks between junctions 4 & 5 in a "sundialwise" direction in those days.
How did they tell the time in ancient Egypt, or on the Equator?
Last edited by unclealec; 11th December 2019 at 22:13.
Surely the point is simply that they have not learnt, or been taught. This doesn't seem to be anything about kids intelligence, not in the slightest. Else it would be like arguing that kids are dumb because they were never taught Latin, and as such don't understand Latin. If children are not taught to read an analogue clock, because there is zero need due to their phones etc, then that is all there is to it. That they didn't learn or get taught something due to a perception of it being redundant.
Egypt is in the Northern Hemisphere, if that helps?
On the Equator I guess they just measured the length of a shadow cast by a vertical stick.
Didn’t one of the Greeks estimate the circumference of the Earth fairly accurately by measuring noon in two places, or something like that?
But first the parents will need their own parents (or even their parents' parents) to teach them.
This issue (and ones like it such as spelling and correct use of punctuation) are multi-generational issues. It's not just the current Gen Z who are to blame -- it is their parents, their parents' parents, and more than one generation of teachers and teaching policy (all taken as a generalisation).
Is this 'simply' a matter of changing culture over time (albeit with a noticeable acceleration of change per unit time due primarily to constantly improving communications) or an objectively measurable reduction in 'quality'? It's very difficult to tell. Time will tell.
As for me, I was taught to read analogue clocks by both my parents and my primary school at a very young age (and, yes, personally I think that such an ability is a part of a decent and complete basic education as part of telling the time at all).
However, I quickly discovered that I work better with digital. Even to this day, I can read the time more quickly (i.e. at a glance) from a digital display compared to an analogue one: Some people are just wired that way.
It's a good job that Japan is in the Northern hemisphere too - otherwise all the Casio digital watches would be running backwards!
I miss Cornwall.
I'd be similar to your young lad in this RD. The very reason I got into "old watches" when I was a kid in the 80's at the height of the digital watch craze was that I found it very difficult to read the time from them. They're a jumble of numbers alright and I really have to think an extra step to translate them and it's not quite the same as an analogue watch time. Turned out I have dyscalculia, a kind of dyslexia with numbers and for me the "shape of time" reflected in the hands is how I read time. And like you say the passage of time is more obvious.
I remember reading about various bits of research concerning cockpit flight instruments and from way back it was found analogue dials were much more easily and more quickly scanned by the average person.
I think that’s genuinely horrifying...
Simon
Not sure if it's already been mentioned but youngsters also struggle to tie shoelaces- only ever wear velcro fasten footwear.
My son has been wearing his Seiko 5 flieger for three years now (he 12 at the moment). There are two things he doesn't leave the house without: his phone and his watch.
Agreed?I think that’s genuinely horrifying...
Simon
A couple of years ago I was working with a girl who was about 16. She always wore a large dinner plate sized watch on her wrist. I commented one day that I liked her watch. She replied " yeah nice init, I don't know how to use it but I like it cos my girlfriend gave it to me"
It isn't just telling the time either.
I go to my local football club, at the kiosk, staffed by youngsters, (18+ as alcohol is served), and order two coffees.
Hot water poured into paper cups containing coffee & powdered milk, (yeuck), and two presses on the relevant button on the till.
"That's five ponds twenty please"
I proffer a ten pound note and say "I've got the twenty p to make it easier for you"
Blank look from the young boy/girl followed by "it's all right", a rummage through the till and four pound coins eighty p in loose change is passed across the counter!
I've even tried handing over the twenty p with the tenner and simply had it handed back to me!
What do they teach them at school these days?
Best Regards - Peter
I'd hate to be with you when you're on your own.
Ashamed to admit that my youngest son couldn’t tell the time on an analogue watch a few years back. Got him a Casio back then and he now has no probs.
Pretty similar to 30 years ago, I imagine, when I first encountered this. :)
Modern tills tell them how much to charge and once they enter the value of money given to them it tells them how much change to give out, any change from routine confuses them, of course the move to cashless working doesn’t help. When was the last time you saw a clock on a wall in a pub-shop etc, for some, like me, if my belly rumbles it’s feeding time, don’t what the actual time is.
...and here's a Southern Hemisphere clock.
https://www.lapazlife.com/bolivian-c...ckwards-clock/
There is evidence that in Egypt they were able to tell the time as early as 600 BC using sundials, shadow clocks and water clocks.
One of a handful of portable timepieces known from ancient Egypt, this fragment is from the type that told time by measuring the length of the sun's shadow. Preserved here is the block with a sloping face with a series of parallel and oblique lines engraved on its face to mark off the time. The original piece would also have had a perpendicular block set up in front of the sloping face to serve as a gnomon and cast a shadow.
This piece is a model of a water clock. Water within could drain from a hole between the baboons legs over a measured time. This object was likely a temple offering to the god Thoth in his role as overseer of knowledge and measurement.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
I have a now almost 14 year old niece who is fearsomely bright. When a toddler she was fascinated by my watch winder/box and particularly the 'Buzzy Bee' watch as she called it (see below). I taught her to tell the time in two sessions of 45 and 30 minutes respectively - she was 4 years old. I was staggered that she picked it up so quickly and when her class were learning to tell the time in school a couple of years later, everyone wanted to be partnered with her as she was the only one already able to tell the time.
Last edited by Skier; 13th December 2019 at 08:12.
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