What is Internet Time? The widespread
use of the Internet has spawned a new concept of time called
the Swatch Beat. Basically, the Swatch Beat is a unit of time
that ignores time zones and geographical boundaries.
How long is a Swatch Beat? Basically, a Swatch Beat equals 1
minute and 26.4 seconds. This is what you get when you divide
the virtual and real day into 1000 "beats." This means
that 12 o'clock noon in the traditional time setting is now called
"@500 Swatch Beats."
So how can someone in New York, or a passenger on a transatlantic
flight know when it is @500 Swatch Beats in Central Europe? How
can the New Yorker set a time for an online chat with her cousin
in Venice, Italy? Simple. Internet Time is the same all over
the world. (See Swatch's
conversion page.)
And how is this possible? Swatch
didn't just create a new way of measuring time, they also established
a new time meridian in Biel, Switzerland. Biel Mean Time (BMT)
will bee the universal reference for Internet Time. A day in
Internet Time begins at midnight BMT (@000 Swatch Beats, Central
European Wintertime).
The Internet Time meridian is marked for all to see on the front
of Swatch's headquarters in Biel. So now time -- Internet Time,
that is -- is the same time the world over, night or day. Time
zones are history! The BMT meridian was inaugurated on October
23, 1998, with Nicholas
Negroponte, founder of MIT`s
Media Lab, on hand for
the ceremonies.
Internet Time
And
the Beat Goes On!
Alternate Time Systems
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