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Inspired by the cursive thread: Analog clocks

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lxskllr said:
Windup clocks/watches are engineering marvels, especially considering how old the tech is. Outside of my rugged use scenario above, I'll take the gentle tick of an analog every time. I also prefer manually wound time pieces. Electric analog clocks are vaguely irritating.
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My wife bought me a nice Seiko watch for our anniversary last year and I get comments on it all the time. It's a Kinetic, so it gets power from me moving, and it self sets via radio. Very cool.

seiko%5Csnaa30.jpg
 
Bateluer said:
Won't argue with that. But calligraphy is a highly developed art form, taking years to learn and longer to master, but not used in daily life because its impractical.
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I don't find analog clocks any harder to read than digital. It's virtually instantaneous recognition for either, unless the analog is some kind of bizarro design. The only concession I'll make on ease of viewing is for dial lighting. Digitals are either inherently bright(LED), or have very bright backlighting(LCD).
 
Easier to read an analog clock for a quick look when looking to get within 5 minute accuracy.

If specific time is needed, digital is better.
 
Bateluer said:
So, your entire argument stems from analog clocks being art forms? Its faster to read a digital clock, but a stylish analog clock definitely looks better. I guess I'm more of a function over form person, with my concern being 'does it work?' over 'how does it look?'.
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You would be incorrect, sir.

I also have the less than unique ability to look at more than one word at a time and comprehend them all. Perhaps you should stick with talking clocks.
 
All the clocks in our university lecture theatres are analog. In high school, the clock they had for exams, even though it was from a projector onto a whitescreen, was analog as well.

My watch is both - it has analog like a classical watch, but the background is digital. And yes, I do find it easier to read off the analog, especially where the light is suboptimal, but still light enough to see a bit. If I need to have accuracy to the nearest second or something, I just use the stopwatch function.

Apart from the clock we have on the dining room wall, all the clocks in our house are digital.
 
Bateluer said:
Who still wears watches, outside of a fashion statement? Cell phones have replaced them.

Where do you guys still see analog clocks in buildings? Every wall clock where I work is digital. The shop I worked at in the USAF had analog clocks, but they were the cheap off-the-shelf Walmart variety, no one used them and nobody bothered to maintain their accuracy, so they pretty much all had different time. We all used the time from our Windows workstations or the time stamps from our various databases.
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Who the heck wants to pull out their phone and hit a button to power the screen to see what time it is? I'd rather just look at my wrist watch. Plus, there are many times where I'm doing yard work, washing the car, etc when I don't want to be carrying a phone with me.
 
The Boston Dangler said:
Grade: F-
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What do you expect from Mr. Pome?

Capt Caveman said:
Who the heck wants to pull out their phone and hit a button to power the screen to see what time it is? I'd rather just look at my wrist watch. Plus, there are many times where I'm doing yard work, washing the car, etc when I don't want to be carrying a phone with me.
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This. Swimming, going to the gym, running, taking an exam, manual labour, there are a large number of times when I would rather have a watch than a phone. Besides, it's quicker.
 
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Capt Caveman said:
Who the heck wants to pull out their phone and hit a button to power the screen to see what time it is? I'd rather just look at my wrist watch. Plus, there are many times where I'm doing yard work, washing the car, etc when I don't want to be carrying a phone with me.
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I'd still wear my old watch except the band broke a long time ago and I couldn't find a decent replacement band for it. So I use my phone. I agree, the watch is more convenient, but I've gotten used to it I guess.
 
Bateluer said:
So, your entire argument stems from analog clocks being art forms?
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Uh, no. Here, I'll repeat myself for you and maybe this time you'll better grasp what I said: "Analog's elegant magic of hands rotating around a dial, which encompass and display the overarching relationship of minutes to hours at one inclusive glance..."

Its faster to read a digital clock,
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Also not true in many, many, many cases.

But, yeah, the analog design is also utterly superior esthetically. It's not even close.

If you don't think esthetics and pleasing design matter at all in all manner of consumer and even industrial goods, from cars to toasters thru airplanes and commercial buildings down to belts and shoes and up again, to, say, bridges . . .then you have proven yourself to be an esthetically impoverished nerdlet.
 
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I have an Ironman digital watch that I refer to as my nerd watch. I only use it for running, camping, or doing physical work. I have 6 other watches that are all analog that get the most wear.
 
Perknose said:
Uh, no. Here, I'll repeat myself for you and maybe this time you'll better grasp what I said: "Analog's elegant magic of hands rotating around a dial, which encompass and display the overarching relationship of minutes to hours at one inclusive glance..."
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Uh, repeating the same thing doesn't help your case. There's nothing special about moving rods around a disk that doesn't also apply to the technological design of the integrated circuitry in a digital clock. If you like analog, fine, your choice. There's no need to be a jerk if you can't support your argument at all.
 
I only have analog clocks in my classroom. When I was in high school, we got that centralized, synchronized digital system. It was handy, but time needn't be that exact.
 
lxskllr said:
Windup clocks/watches are engineering marvels, especially considering how old the tech is. Outside of my rugged use scenario above, I'll take the gentle tick of an analog every time. I also prefer manually wound time pieces. Electric analog clocks are vaguely irritating.
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Tell me about it. We recently found a pocket watch that probably belonged to my great grandfather. The watch is 106 years old and has been sitting in a dresser drawer for probably 30-40 years. All I did was wind it and set the time, it works perfectly and is incredibly accurate. Beautiful watch too and has a great tick to it. Digital is nice, but you can't beat a proper mechanical watch. 🙂
 
Kaervak said:
Tell me about it. We recently found a pocket watch that probably belonged to my great grandfather. The watch is 106 years old and has been sitting in a dresser drawer for probably 30-40 years. All I did was wind it and set the time, it works perfectly and is incredibly accurate. Beautiful watch too and has a great tick to it. Digital is nice, but you can't beat a proper mechanical watch.
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How often would you have to wind it up? Once a day? Once a week, a month?
 
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