# What Time Would It Be? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 4, 2004, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-would-it-be/267431 "2004-10-04T06:28:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![saluki\_fan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@saluki\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saluki_fan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-would-it-be/267431/1 "2004-10-04T06:28:49Z")
If you were standing at the base of The Statue of Liberty and your cell phone said it was 1:00 A.M. and at that very moment you happened to be talking to a man who had no country and was floating on a boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, what time would his cell phone show as the time? Granted I don’t know if he would get a signal or even be able to use a cell phone, but just for the heck of it say he had the most technologically advanced cell phone available. All this put into consideration, what would the difference in time be. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-would-it-be/267431/2 "2004-10-04T06:39:22Z")
Well, obviously, it would depend on what he had set his cell phone clock to be. If you’re asking what time zone it is in the middle of the Atlantic, well, it depends on where in the Atlantic you’re talking about. See any [standard time zone map](http://www.worldtimezone.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-would-it-be/267431/3 "2004-10-04T06:40:49Z")
Depends on how you define “middle of the Atlantic Ocean”. See [here](http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/world_tzones.html) for some basic info on time zones. (On preview: Damn my typos! Damn that previewing delay!) ---
**Author:** ![saluki\_fan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@saluki\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saluki_fan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-would-it-be/267431/4 "2004-10-04T06:46:55Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Well, obviously, it would depend on what he had set his cell phone clock to be. A guy once told me that the clocks off of cell phones were ran off of satelites and that they kept perfect timing. I guess he was wrong, but nevertheless that’s why I chose the cell phone clock as the example. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-would-it-be/267431/5 "2004-10-04T07:11:17Z")
Unfortunately he’s wrong or I wouldn’t have to reset the time on my phone when I change the battery. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-would-it-be/267431/6 "2004-10-04T07:14:06Z")
> [@saluki\_fan](#): > > A guy once told me that the clocks off of cell phones were ran off of satelites and that they kept perfect timing. I guess he was wrong, but nevertheless that’s why I chose the cell phone clock as the example. He is wrong, although I’m sure there are some cell phones that set their clocks in this way. If we assume that the man in the boat has such a cell phone, the answer lies in the links provided by **Smeghead** and **Hunter Hawk**. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-would-it-be/267431/7 "2004-10-04T07:33:02Z")
I’ve had several cell phones and not once have I’ve ever had to set them. NOt even durring daylight savings time or traveled across time zones. The clock on the cell phone resets itself evey time you make or get a call. It will reajust itself to the local time zone if you happen to travel across one. I’d like to know what “Flintstones” model phone still makes you set it yourself. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-would-it-be/267431/8 "2004-10-04T07:45:07Z")
Cell phones won’t work in the middle of the Atlantic. Satellite phones will, but they are not the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-would-it-be/267431/9 "2004-10-04T15:11:06Z")
Another point is that there’s no legal or official time in the middle of the ocean. The time zone maps show could probably be called the nominal time in the oceans. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-would-it-be/267431/10 "2004-10-04T15:16:23Z")
Actually, I should qualify my statement above; Cell phones will not be able to contact a transciever and initiate or receive a call, text message etc. in the middle of the Atlantic - other functions often found on cellular phones, such as alarm clocks, personal organiser functions and games etc, will probably still work. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-would-it-be/267431/11 "2004-10-04T15:19:10Z")
Your question might be better stated as how do ships in the Navy, fo example, keep time when they’re always crossing time zones. It is my understanding they keep Zulu time. Now, it has always been my understanding that: Zulu time = Greenwhich Mean Time (GMT) = Universal Time (UT) Is this 100% correct? Please correct me, and explain the subtle differences if your teaching is to the contrary. - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-would-it-be/267431/12 "2004-10-04T16:24:38Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > Your question might be better stated as how do ships in the Navy, fo example, keep time when they’re always crossing time zones. It is my understanding they keep Zulu time. Now, it has always been my understanding that: > Zulu time = Greenwhich Mean Time (GMT) = Universal Time (UT) > > Is this 100% correct? Please correct me, and explain the subtle differences if your teaching is to the contrary. > > - Jinx Zulu time (aka GMT) is used for sending radio (and probably other) messages and determining location, but on a day to day basis is not practical. An example will illustrate better. You leave Norfolk Virginia on the _USS Neverdock_ at 8 am. You are headed East for two weeks to go to, say, Portsmouth England to grab a few pints before stopping at that lovely all-night fish & chip seller outside of the gates at the naval base. It’s going to take you 10 days to get there. Since Portsmouth England is 5 hours ahead of Norfolk, Va, every other day you will adjust your clocks onboard by one hour so that by the time you reach England, your internal ship time matches local time. So it’s “Spring Ahead” every two days at 2 am. If you would use GMT everytime you travel through time zones, you would be instantly changing internal (ship’s) time by up to 12 hours at a shot - which really screws with people’s circadian rhythms. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-would-it-be/267431/13 "2004-10-04T17:22:47Z")
> [@SHAKES](#): > > I’d like to know what “Flintstones” model phone still makes you set it yourself. At least he gets to charge his phone. I have to wind my phone every morning. While driving across Indiana, I noticed that my cell phone registered the change from Eastern to Central time almost immediately. It probably happened within a half mile of the time zone border.