You’re probably getting this news from every possible source right now, but Daylight Saving Time starts again this weekend, unless you’re in one of the few states that doesn’t observe it. Good news: it’s going to be light after dinner. Bad news: if you’re a person who’s always believed in “early to bed, early to rise,” it’s going to be dark when you get up again.
There was a time when Daylight Saving Time required an hour’s worth of wandering from room to room setting clocks on devices large and small. That’s still true but to a much smaller degree now, thanks of course to the internet. For example:
That still leaves anything that isn’t connected to the internet, such as your kitchen appliances, wristwatches and any other standalone gadgets with a clock. You’ll still probably end up walking around the house for a little bit.
Californians voted to eliminate the yearly tango and use Daylight Saving Time year round. This was a couple of years ago but the federal government is blocking them from implementing it. Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas voters have passed similar propositions. For now, though, only Arizona stays on the same time year-round.
Daylight Saving time is a relic of those days when the only way to be energy-efficient was to change the clocks. In times of war or scarcity, we were told that getting up later in the summer would use less fuel because most people’s activity would be when it was light out. This has always seemed like weak sauce to me.
A lot of folks believe that Daylight Saving Time has something to do with farmers. That’s just not true. Yes, I heard that same story when I was young but it’s just another example of misinformation being repeated so many times that everyone believes it.
In past years, many apps including Apple’s own internal alarms app have become flummoxed by the coming of Daylight Saving Time and it’s caused alarms to fail. If you really, really have to be somewhere make sure you set an alarm that you know is going to work. I still have a good-old alarm clock I use on occasion, even though my phone hasn’t failed me in years.
It’s Daylight Saving Time. It’s not Daylight Savings Time. I don’t quite know why people want to say “Savings” but it’s so popular that many major publications have printed it wrong. It’s a day when you start saving daylight; it doesn’t make sense to say you’re savings daylight. No one would say that.
In the past I thought maybe people were confusing “Daylight Saving” with “Savings Bank” which was a once-common term. No one says “Savings Bank” anymore, primarily since it’s not 1973. It’s funny, no one says “Power Savings Light Bulb” but they say “Daylight Savings Time.” So, I don’t really have an answer to why people say it wrong. Either way, though, I don’t completely buy the idea of changing the clocks, especially since it means it will be dark when I get up.
The post Daylight Saving Time starts Sunday Morning appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
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There was a time when Daylight Saving Time required an hour’s worth of wandering from room to room setting clocks on devices large and small. That’s still true but to a much smaller degree now, thanks of course to the internet. For example:
- Home theater equipment should set clocks automatically.
- Your phones should have the right time when you get up.
- Smart home devices will update themselves, usually.
That still leaves anything that isn’t connected to the internet, such as your kitchen appliances, wristwatches and any other standalone gadgets with a clock. You’ll still probably end up walking around the house for a little bit.
Why do we even still have Daylight Saving?
Californians voted to eliminate the yearly tango and use Daylight Saving Time year round. This was a couple of years ago but the federal government is blocking them from implementing it. Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas voters have passed similar propositions. For now, though, only Arizona stays on the same time year-round.
Daylight Saving time is a relic of those days when the only way to be energy-efficient was to change the clocks. In times of war or scarcity, we were told that getting up later in the summer would use less fuel because most people’s activity would be when it was light out. This has always seemed like weak sauce to me.
A lot of folks believe that Daylight Saving Time has something to do with farmers. That’s just not true. Yes, I heard that same story when I was young but it’s just another example of misinformation being repeated so many times that everyone believes it.
Need to go somewhere? Set several alarms
In past years, many apps including Apple’s own internal alarms app have become flummoxed by the coming of Daylight Saving Time and it’s caused alarms to fail. If you really, really have to be somewhere make sure you set an alarm that you know is going to work. I still have a good-old alarm clock I use on occasion, even though my phone hasn’t failed me in years.
One more thing…
It’s Daylight Saving Time. It’s not Daylight Savings Time. I don’t quite know why people want to say “Savings” but it’s so popular that many major publications have printed it wrong. It’s a day when you start saving daylight; it doesn’t make sense to say you’re savings daylight. No one would say that.
In the past I thought maybe people were confusing “Daylight Saving” with “Savings Bank” which was a once-common term. No one says “Savings Bank” anymore, primarily since it’s not 1973. It’s funny, no one says “Power Savings Light Bulb” but they say “Daylight Savings Time.” So, I don’t really have an answer to why people say it wrong. Either way, though, I don’t completely buy the idea of changing the clocks, especially since it means it will be dark when I get up.
The post Daylight Saving Time starts Sunday Morning appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
Continue reading...
