INTERNET TIME
What is this new Universal Time?
Timed by Swatch Internet Time represents a completely new global concept of time. So what is the deal? Basically, the Swatch Beat, the revolutionary new unit of time means the following: No Time Zones How long is a Swatch beat? In short we have divided up the virtual and real day into 1000 "beats". One Swatch beat is the equivalent of 1 minute 26.4 seconds. That means that 12 noon in the old time system is the equivalent of @500 Swatch beats. Okay, so how can a surfer in New York, or a passenger on a transatlantic flight know when it is @500 Swatch Beats in Central Europe for example? How can the New York surfer make a date for a chat with his cyber friend in Rome? Easy, Internet Time is the same all over the world. (see converter) How is this possible? We are not just creating a new way of measuring time, we are also
creating a new meridian in Biel, Switzerland, home of Swatch. Biel Mean Time (BMT) will be
the universal reference for Internet Time. A day in Internet Time begins at midnight BMT
(@000 Swatch Beats) (Central European Wintertime). The BMT meridian was inaugurated on 23 October 1998 in the presence of Nicholas Negroponte, founder and director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology`s Media Laboratory. |