# Have you noticed that younger people seem slower to tell time from "traditional" clock faces? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 29, 2025, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391 "2025-10-29T15:25:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2025, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/101 "2025-11-04T15:35:16Z")
Nope. No idea what you are describing. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2025, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/102 "2025-11-04T15:44:31Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I wasn’t sure - so I just made a call and mine says “Calling”. Interesting. Mine is a Samsung with probably an older version of Android. I think “Dialing” is actually a more accurate description of what the phone is doing, which is literally sending out the digits of the phone number to establish a connection, pretty much analogous to the encoded pulses sent out by an old rotary dial phone or the tones sent out by a pushbutton phone. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2025, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/103 "2025-11-04T15:57:06Z")
Whereas “calling” originally meant visiting someone else’s house in person (as in “come to call,” “gentleman caller, “making house calls”…). ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2025, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/104 "2025-11-04T16:32:31Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Do you also get that weird issue where the title “Miscellaneous Personal Stuff I Must Share” below some related threads is too long and causes the phone to have horizontal scrolling when it normally doesn’t? I understand exactly what you are saying, but it doesn’t happen with me. But you apparently use a much larger font than I do, because the title fits my screen with lots of room to spare. (Image cropped to the relevant bottom portion.) [![](https://i.imgur.com/zMKDWsH.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/zMKDWsH.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/105 "2025-11-06T02:02:23Z")
I prefer analog clocks and watches so my kids have grown up with them. I like them because they give me a better sense of time remaining before the next action than digital clocks. For example, if I have to leave the house at 11:55, I’m just more used to looking at the clock and instantly knowing I have about 15 minutes and don’t need to hurry or only five or six minutes and need to speed things up. I do sailing race management and there are complex time sequences which need to be followed. Various flags need to be raised or lowered with precise timing, counted down to the second. It’s easier to calculate the timing with digital clocks but easier to count down the seconds with analog ones. of course, just getting a digital timer is the easiest. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/106 "2025-11-06T04:16:09Z")
Seems like the optimal UI is a digital hour and an analog minute where the 12 positions are labeled in 5 minute increments. It works with a second hand as well. - gets rid of the wonkiness of the hour hand traveling - eliminates the multiply by 5 for minutes - eliminates the hour and minute hand debate - but keeps the graphical nature of minutes and seconds - it does make it harder to read the exact minutes for middle values ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/107 "2025-11-06T04:34:05Z")
Why do you want a digital hour? I don’t want it to say “3” in giant font when the actual time is nearly 4, i want the hour hand to be close to the 4. What’s “wonky” about the hour hand moving? How often do you care about reading the precise number of minutes? ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/108 "2025-11-06T04:59:55Z")
For the reason @Hermitian gave. At 3:58 I read the hour hand first ‘it is near 4’, then I read the minute hand ‘it is 58’, then I apply the rule ‘if it is near the end of the hour, subtract 1 from the hour’. If I learned to read the minute hand first I might not have this annoyance. Also it’s redundant information. The minute hand already tells me how far I am into the hour, I don’t also need to hour hand to slowly travel from one number to the next. It’s an implementation detail that leaked into the UI. Having the minutes and seconds displayed on a dial makes sense because they change fairly rapidly; as you said earlier you can visually estimate how many minutes remain. Hours don’t change rapidly and there’s only 12 of them. You can use the hour hand to visually estimate, but I’d rather just do the math. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2025, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/109 "2025-11-06T05:39:16Z")
Speaking as an actuary, I’d rather not do math just to know what time it is. 😉 In fact, for most purposes, i only need the hour hand, that gives me the information i need. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2025, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/110 "2025-11-07T15:04:34Z")
> [@CaveMike](#): > > Seems like the optimal UI is a digital hour and an analog minute where the 12 positions are labeled in 5 minute increments. It works with a second hand as well. I can help you out with that. Send me $160k and I’ll get you on the waiting list. Looks like it will be about three years. > **[Hands-On: The Impressive Berneron Quantième Annuel](https://monochrome-watches.com/berneron-quantieme-annuel-annual-calendar-specs-price-review/)** > > The brand's annual calendar watch, the Berneron Quantième Annuel, is nothing like the Mirage, but it did not disappoint. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2025, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/111 "2025-11-07T15:07:45Z")
I’m pretty sure the large number on that represents the day of the month, not the hour. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2025, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/112 "2025-11-07T15:11:03Z")
Nope. It’s the hour. The date is indicated by the inner ring. You read hours, minutes, seconds top to bottom. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2025, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/113 "2025-11-08T15:41:03Z")
Interesting. I wonder how it handles the transition from 28/29/30/31 to 1. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2025, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/114 "2025-11-08T15:46:32Z")
It’s a retrograde complication. At the end of the last day of the month, it doesn’t continue forward to 1, rather, it flips backwards all the way until it points at 1. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2025, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/115 "2025-11-08T15:52:56Z")
And how does it know that it should perform this manoeuvre on the 28th, 29th, or 30th? ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2025, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/116 "2025-11-08T16:00:56Z")
It ‘“knows” what the month is from the month wheel on the right. Some part of the gear train that moves that month wheel will have a cam or gear set with a reset mechanism shaped for that specific month that triggers the retrograde action. > **[The Basics and Beyond: Perpetual Calendar](https://revolutionwatch.com/perpetual-calendar/)** > > One of the most hallowed complications in watchmaking and the ingenuity involved in simplifying their complex makeup. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2025, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/117 "2025-11-17T10:49:37Z")
Regarding the OP: Most of my 4th graders can’t read the big analog clock on the classroom, and the ones without watches sometimes get out of their seats to look at the time on my computer. So I asked them if they were ever taught to read a clock, and they all said no, except a few who said their parents taught them. Some volunteered that there were no analog clocks in their homes. The ones whose parents taught them had analog clocks in the home. One of my overachievers said that she can read a clock face even if it doesn’t have numbers. I knew what she was talking about, but the rest of the class didn’t. So, if it isn’t being taught, it really isn’t a shortcoming on their part. It’s like faulting them for not knowing how to hitch a horse, or churn butter. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/118 "2025-12-16T02:36:03Z")
As seen in Groundhog Day ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/119 "2025-12-16T02:51:37Z")
As lived by many of us back then. I had a flap clock AM/FM/8-track clock radio in high school. _Tres chic!! Tres Moderne!!_ ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/120 "2025-12-16T03:15:34Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Tres chic!! Tres Moderne!! Hah. I had one, too, but not until college. When our dorm room was burglarized, it was the only thing stolen…. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391.md?page=7)