Hello all. I’ve always been a digital clock user, but I am trying to get myself used to reading an analog watch.
For the most part it’s fine, taking me several extra seconds over digital so far.
But one thing I am struggling with is discerning the exact minute. Because the minute hand slowly moves over time as opposed to ticking, I have trouble telling whether or not it’s say…9:22 or 9:23 for example.
Because when the time is say…9:22 and 5 seconds, the hand will clearly be on the 9:22 mark. But when it’s 9:22 and 45 seconds, it looks like it’s actually 9:23 when it isn’t yet.
Is this just always a limitation that I’m stuck with using analog? How precise are you all with analog clocks? Is there a way I can more quickly determine the exact minute?
Thanks!
I’m surprised nobody has mentioned Parallax Error yet.
Because when the time is say…9:22 and 5 seconds, the hand will clearly be on the 9:22 mark. But when it’s 9:22 and 45 seconds, it looks like it’s actually 9:23 when it isn’t yet.
The best way to avoid this error is to look exactly straight on at the watch or clock, which isn’t always possible for wall clocks. If you look from an angle, it is easier to mistake the time for 9:23 or 9:21 when it is really 9:22. This is a physical limitation of any measurement gauge or dial.
The other bit of information is the second hand, if you have one.
My mental algorithm goes something like this, it i were to step through it slowly:
- General impression of the clock. The shape of the hour and minute hand together. I recognize the approximate time: a few minutes past 9:20. This is usually sufficient precision for my needs.
- Minute hand fine position: somewhere between 9:22 and 9:23.
- Second hand position: at 45 seconds. I now know the time is 9:22:45.
This gets faster with practice. Instead of having to work out the time, you’ll just know it, the more you do it.
It takes time to get used to it, no pun intended. Everything is easier with practice.
Those of us who grew up with analog clocks can read them at a glance. If you are new to them, it’ll probably take you a few months (or more) of daily use before you can tell time at a glance.
Growing up with only Analog, it just was a quick glance. You didn’t even have to stop and read it, because you glance and have a mental image of the hand positions that you could compare in your head.
Does your watch have clearly marked minutes and a second hand? If its not quite at the minute mark you know its before 9:23, but if its so close you can’t tell then the seconds hand will show you if its before or after the 60seconds spot.
But also, that’s how Analog is, and unless you have a very precise watch, a regular watch will gain or lose time daily and so the preciseness of 9:23 will be invalid anyway.
It does have a second hand, but I don’t really look at it much to tell the time.
It’s not that I can’t tell the minutes when it is between numbers, it’s that it will already look like it’s 9:23 because the minute hand has effectively nearly covered the 9:23 minute mark despite it being 9:22:45 or something. Seems to be a limitation of analog clocks unless I am just not great at discerning these things. Unless people also generally look at the second hand when reading them??
Tbh it’s actually a smartwatch and not technically an actual analog watch, so I’m assuming the exact time is pretty accurate. I just want to start using analog watch faces more on it to make it look nicer haha. Plus brushing up on my skill!
For you, what’s the value in reading the exact minute? (genuine question, not snark!) In your example it looks like it’s 9:23 but it’s actually 9:22:45… Is that a problem? Probably by the time you do anything with that information fifteen seconds will have passed and it will be 9:23.
For most people, I think analogue is more of vibes way of telling time. You don’t need to know that it’s 7:47 you just glance and see it’s almost ten to eight, and you have to leave soon. I find that I’m basically translating digital time into those approximation anyway. If you like that kinda vagueness and have an android watch then I’d recommend Twelveish as a watch face.
I guess there really isn’t a ton of value tbh! I guess it’s just that I’ve basically always had access to the exact time and anything else feels a bit less than. Things like getting ready in the morning and keeping track of the exact minute I know I have to leave by to get to work comfortably, people asking me for the time and giving them a time off by a minute is socially awkward if they double check, or something like knowing that I want to bake something in the oven for exactly 12 minutes without having to set a timer.
“Vibes” is honestly a good way to put it lol
I grew up when even digital clocks were off by a couple minutes or more because they weren’t centrally connected to something that kept them accurate. Heck, my phone and computer clocks aren’t always exactly in sync down to the second.
I prefer analogue clocks most of the time because it lets me know roughly how much time is left until something at a glance instead of needing to calculate it in my head.
Yeah it seems like most of the comments here that actually understood my question (many of them seem to think I’m asking for instructions on how to read the hours and minutes) seem to have this kind of attitude. The attitude that analog clocks aren’t necessarily for precision, but for a general “vibe” for lack of a better term at what time it is. I guess having constant connection to Internet clocks with precise minutes and seconds has made me pretty anal about time for whatever reason. I guess maybe I need to learn to chill out more?? Lol
It’s not a limitation but a matter of precision. The position of the minute hand tells you how far into that minute you are. You don’t need that information, of course. You can just say whatever mark it’s closest to. At 1:00:58, although a digital clock would still read 1:00, it is by all accounts much more accurate to round the minute to 1:01.
So if you just call the time by the minute your minute hand appears closest to, you’ll often be more accurate than a digital clock. It won’t matter. But you’ll know it’s true.
Did you know digital clocks experience drift? Your computer can’t keep accurate track of time, it generally uses the NTP to synchronize time.
Your smart watch either has access to the internet and or syncs to your phone time.
Your analog clock displayed on a digital smart watch also make have inaccuracies due to the processor and the load on it, the refresh rate of the screen, etc.
If its a smart display of analog it could be the hand positions have preprogrammed locations and not that is an accurate and smooth transition between the actual progression.
There are analog clocks that move the minute hand only when the next minute starts. But to be honest, you might profit from a little less rigidity in your “time usage” - it’s good for your mental health to not plan everything down to the minute. If i make a private appointment, i try to set time windows of 10-15 minutes for meetups; i aim for the beginning of the window, and if i get delayed it’s of no consequence, and for longer delays i would message anyways.
Can you imagine that it’s not so long ago that people called a phone number that told you what time it will be at the next signal tone so you can set your clock?
If I need that level of precision, I’ll use a digital clock or set an alarm.
I can usually tell the time, at a glance, within 1-2 minutes which is precise enough for 99.999% of cases. Most IRL scheduling has a lower bound of 5-minute increments, so looking at an analog clock for the exact minute isn’t really necessary.
I grew up with analog clocks and can read them at a glance.
For the most part, I don’t really care precisely about minute. E.g. the analog clock in my kitchen is only used to tell me that it’s “roughly 2 minutes past 5 soon” and it’s enough for me to put the potatoes on.
If I need to know precisely whether it’s 16:03 vs 16:04, I use a digital clock. Though mostly because my analog clocks are not precisely synced at all times.
Back when analog was the norm, nobody cared about a minute here or there unless they had some specific profession. Like, the bus came “15:15 ish maybe 5 minutes early maybe 10 minutes late”. Everyone’s clock were off by at least 2 minutes anyway.
Today in the digital age, the bus schedule says “15:17”
Today in the digital age, the bus schedule says “15:17”
Yeah essentially lol. That’s one of the reasons I had never been super into analog clocks beforehand.
Today in the digital age, the bus schedule says “15:17”
And the bus might show up about twenty past three, if you’re lucky
Memorize visually how far into a new minute marker the hand is when a new minute ticks over. So the moment it switches from 9:22 to 9:23, is the hand directly over the line, or maybe aligned on the left edge? Then use that as a mental model for future comparisons
You don’t need to memorize it really, just have to generalize the position of the minute hand past the last round number. Is it about 40% between the 2 and the 3, then that’s a 12.
Fun fact - I was 23 and studying for my MSc before I learned how to read analogue clocks.
If you’re after speed, all I can suggest is that you’ve got to embrace the old-people habit of using the nearest 5 minute mark and accept that level of accuracy.
- “Quarter past”
- “It’s just gone quarter-past”
- “It’s nearly twenty-past”
- “Twenty past”
Step one: where is hour hand? Is it on a number or after? Is it approaching a new number? This is already enough to estimate.
Step two: where is minute hand? Is it on a number, or after? Is it approaching a new number? Dead center?
This is enough to get precise time within about 90s.
If the hour hand is a little past 5, I know the minute hand is between 12 and 4. Oh, it’s between the 2 and 3. Closer to the 2 but definitely past it.
It’s 5:12. Maybe 5:13. Maybe 5:11. Probably 5:12.
Imo for most applications that I’d be using an analog clock for a time difference of even up to 5-10 minutes is irrelevant. If I really needed up to the minute accuracy I’m using a digital clock with the seconds counting down
I wear an analog with a blank face so I just round to the latest 5 minute increment. But if I need the exact time I just check my phone or another clock/watch with a numbered face
It depends, but in most cases I can’t determine the exact minute on an analog clock. In practice, the quickest way is to choose the worse case.
There are usually ticks for every five minutes, most clocks have ticks for each minute. It won’t officially become the next minute until the second hand hits 12.
If you get used to looking at analog clock with minute ticks, you start to get a sense of spacing. If you subdivide the interval of a clock with only five minute ticks, you know what time it is.
I don’t generally read them to the minute very often. For the most part, 5 min increments are close enough for what I need, most of the time. If I do need a more precise time, I’m usually already closely watching the clock and it’s just addition (was 1341 when I started this, now it’s 1345.).
If I need to get the precise time, cold, than it’s as simple as: closest 5 min tick, then add or subtract minute ticks till you get to the minute hand
Eventually you get to the point where it’s not something you consciously think about. You just look at the clock and then pattern recognition takes over and you just know what time it is.
If I’m bored, sure. Otherwise it’s to the nearest 5 minutes
I would call that down to the seconds accuracy. Minute accuracy is like plus or minus 59 seconds. I mean if something is not using ntp or such it can be off by a minute easily enough.
