New Translations: The Internet Reinvents Time
Much of the focus of the Web is innovation. New ways of communicating, relaying information and marketing are constantly being developed. And with the Web, every part of the world is connected, at all times. People are constantly interacting across time zones. Time itself is the focus of many websites, such as timeanddate.com, and many companies, such as those that provide document translation or design custom computer applications, need to be aware of the time where clients are located. Swatch, a Swiss company, has introduced the .beat, an alternative to the seconds and hours we are all used to. This is intended to simplify the 24 hour, 60 minute per hour system that has defined time since antiquity. Each day comprises 1000 beats, with the standard for the time based on a meridian drawn through Biel, Switzerland. The units equal to 1 .beat per 86.4 seconds, or 1 per 1.44 minutes. In this new time format, various aspects of the Internet are reflected. Time af...