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Swatch Internet Time

Saturday, October 30, 1999

If you've ever seen a site that says something is on a @‍320, then you've experienced Internet time. Partially a marketing exercise by mega Swiss company Swatch, and partially a really good idea, Internet time is a new innovation that allows everyone in the world to utilize the same time scale while they are online.

By dividing the twenty four hours of the day into 1000 "beats", Swatch has created a time that can be used without worrying about timezones. Each beat is worth 1 minute 26.4 seconds, and @‍000 time is the same as midnight in Switzerland (so you can tell where this was made!)

The only real way to use Swatch Internet time is to download the utility program they have created. The file is only 52Kb, and downloading is simple. Select your version (you can choose PC, Mac or Unix,) and download the file to your desktop. By running the file, the program will automatically decompress. If you want the program to be running whenever you turn on your system, you simply place the file in your Startup folder.

PC users will know it's running if you can see a red @ in your system tray (bottom right corner of your screen.) You can leave it hidden there, or you can select show to give you a small window with the Internet time displayed.

You can also use Internet time on you website like this:

Once you're all set up, you never need to worry about timezones again! Impress your friends with another new Internet tool and try Swatch Internet time!