Technology Connextras
3 HN recommenders · recommended in 4 months, 2022–2026
18:15 · 706K views · Dec 30, 2021
A Technology Connections video essay on how analog and digital clocks shape different mental models of time, with the minute hand acting as a progress indicator.
HN points to it whenever analog versus digital clocks come up, as an idea that changed how commenters think about time perception.
6 comments from Hacker News
I think the digital vs analogue clock is an adjacent, everyday example. On the human scale precise clock maths is rarely necessary, and conceptually thinking of time as a base 60 number can be more trouble than good. Technology Connections has a very good video on this, and completely changed thinking: this video
I rather enjoyed the video essay Technology Connections did about the seemingly different mental models of tracking time that come from analog and digital clocks, and how a lot of people now have barely ever experienced analog clocks. this video
Technology Connections did a really great video on this a few years ago. this video Apparently being raised with analog clocks vs digital changes how one intuits the passage of time.
Not to other people I've talked to. I'm the wrong person to ask this about, since I prefer digital time, so time is just a number to me. But Technology Connections made a video atleast talking about it,[1] so hopefully that get part of the point across. To him and plenty of other analogue-first people, time is a progress bar, or a chart, or something along those lines, and that's the natural way to perceive time, and converting it to a number is meaningless beyond expressing it as digital time. [1] this video
Related: different people think of time different ways. I myself have never liked analog clocks because they require a conversion to make sense . Technology Connections made a video about this: this video And another thing: I considered trying 28-hour days because my sleeping schedule always drifts. A 28-hour clock that's in sync with me sleeping would be nice if I ever do try that.