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Analogue or digital clocks.

Chris Hobson

Chris Hobson

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
notalwaysright.com

Times Have Changed

Me: "So the clock tower is—" Tourist: *Interrupting.* "Why do you keep calling it a clocktower?" Me: "Because… that's what it is? It's a tower with a clock on it." Tourist: "Where?!"
notalwaysright.com notalwaysright.com

Notalwaysright.com again, this time a tourist who didn't recognise the clock on the Big Ben Tower as a clock. I found the comments interesting as some people apparently now view analogue clocks as obsolete technology rather than one of two different formats. One commenter said that he couldn't remember the last time he saw an analogue clock and it also appears that many younger adults don't know how to read one. Personally I'm comfortable reading both types. Some went off at a tangent about 24hr time, known as Military Time in the US. I find it strange that there are places where you rarely see an analogue clock. Some commenters were unaware that there are clocks that don't use batteries. Most watches are analogue unless you are talking about very cheap ones but many people no longer wear a watch and just use their phone to check the time. Are analogue clocks dying out, or are they likely to be around for the foreseeable future?
 
That’s shocking @Chris Hobson I love analogue clocks and watches. The mechanisms are amazing. Some clocks are works of art <3 I don’t think they’ll ever die out, but I do wish there were more available. My children always have analogue clocks and watches.
 
I grew up around 'real' clocks, at home the main clock sat on the mantelpiece with it's wooden case and roman numerals.
My nan had a grandmother clock complete with pendulum and a tick tock which was both extremely loud and slow.

I mainly check the time either on my Garmin or PC, but I do have this battery powered one on the table.
 

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Never had a digital watch and never will, Analogue watches as @Inka has said, are a "work of art" be they automatic or battery
 
I have succumbed, and wear a cheap digital watch, but I still have an analogue kitchen clock that I check if I want to know the time when I’m at home, even though I’m wearing the watch.
I have also been known to look up at the church clock when I’m out for a walk, rather than check my wrist.
 
Neurologists will eventually need to rethink their standard test of "draw a clock face".
 
We have two grandfather clocks and two mantel clocks all of which we've inherited as well as a couple of battery powered ones. They get wound every Sunday. I just love the tick tock background sound and on the rare occasions when one of them stops, the silence is unsettling.
I suppose that no one needs to be able to read an analog clock these days but it does seem a shame not to learn such a simple thing.
 
I am very reliant on our village church clock as my stables are right in the centre of the village opposite the church. I can hear the clock strike the hours and quarters whilst I am working in the stables which helps me not to lose too much track of the day.
I don't wear a watch anymore and I was in a right pickle when the church clock broke down a few years ago. I was very happy to contribute to the clock repair fund, even and it took a long time to raise enough money to get it back on track. Someone was required to go up the clock tower and wind it once a week as well but I found out a few weeks ago that it is now being upgraded so no one has that onerous task anymore and it will be automatically kept to good time and updated when the clocks change, so they are adding new technology to the old workings. I love that church clock and it is as much a member of the village as I am. So pleased they have been able to fix it but could easily have bought a Rolex for the cost of the repairs. 😱
 
I think my answer is "it depends"
I have not worn a watch for years as I always have my phone with me. My phone has a digital clock which feels like the right thing.
I can't think of an analog clock in my house because I have no "just clocks". There's the clock on the heating, the clock on the microwave, the clock on my computer, the clock on my cooker, ...
But I would hate to see digital clocks on public buildings like village halls or churches or Big Ben.
I think there is room for both but that does mean children have to learn both.
 
Young people seem to be getting by without having to learn how to read an analogue clock or watch. Presumably having a digital watch and a clock on their phones means that they don't need to. My last digital watch was a Casio G Shock, that was many years ago now. After I stopped wearing it I used it as a bedside alarm for a long time. Modern G Shocks have a combination analogue and digital face. They now cover a very wide price range from fairly cheap to really expensive ones with lots of tech.
 
I was shocked to read a while back that many youngsters don't know how to tell the time!
Just another example of how our society/education is letting people down.
Surely its an essential life skill?
I'm fine with both digital and analogue, and am happy with 12hr or 24hr clocks, and actually we have many clocks in the house still. I am a watch fan, I don't really do expensive clocks/watches but I do like unusual ones, so I have a few.
Personally I do think clocks and watches will slowly die out, as you say, everyone just uses their phone for everything!
 
s'nic said:
I grew up around 'real' clocks, at home the main clock sat on the mantelpiece with it's wooden case and roman numerals.
Click to expand...
Lol, Roman numerals, try getting youngsters to understand those! 😉
 
The clock App on my phone puts an analogue clock face on my home screen, but I can still see the time in digital in the top corner of the screen.

On the subject of analogue vs digital, how do people feel about speedometers on cars? My Astra is analogue, but our Audi shows the speed in both.
 
Martin.A said:
The clock App on my phone puts an analogue clock face on my home screen, but I can still see the time in digital in the top corner of the screen.

On the subject of analogue vs digital, how do people feel about speedometers on cars? My Astra is analogue, but our Audi shows the speed in both.
Click to expand...
Our mini has both, if you scroll through to the correct setting where it shows you either speed, mpg, miles left on current tank etc, and I always have it set to the digital speed readout, because it’s quicker and more obvious to flick my eye down to an actual number than try to read the big dial that isn’t the clearest. On the subject to choosing between mph and mpg on the screen, why do we still talk about miles per gallon but buy our fuel in litres? (rhetorical question).
 
pjgtech said:
Lol, Roman numerals, try getting youngsters to understand those! 😉
Click to expand...

Children learn Roman numerals in primary school 🙂 They actually love them and get very excited about working out the number!
 
I like the analogue speedo and rev counter on my car. I would prefer real dials for the fuel and temp too but mine has a display with LCD blocks.

On miles per gallon, I still work it out that way because I have a fairly clear idea of what is and isn't good fuel economy in MPG. My old V8 Rover used to do about 20mpg, my current 2 litre turbo diesel does around 45mpg with much better performance.
 
Robin said:
Our mini has both, if you scroll through to the correct setting where it shows you either speed, mpg, miles left on current tank etc,
Click to expand...
Hang on. Does your mini have a digital analog clock? 😳
And yes, I understand mpg even though I buy litres.
 
The nearest my own body has ever got to a digital watch was the plastic bright red Snoopy watch I bought in the 1970s. I'd have preferred one with the seconds hand really but they being yellow, just couldn't countenance that !
 
We still have analogue clocks in the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. I find it easier to glance up to the clock and see how long it is before I need to be doing things when I need to be out of the house etc iyswim. I don’t wear a watch and rely on my phone for telling the time otherwise. My teens are mixed. My eldest at 17 likes clocks and can use an analogue. My youngest at nearly 15 doesn’t have the same brain and hates analogue and only reads digital.
 
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