If you build web sites for a living, you will no doubt have come across a client who, despite lack of any logic or reason, wants either the time or date displayed on their site. Unlike a vast number of other common web design sins, I have to say that this is not one I’ve ever fallen foul of (despite working on a number of sites that have already been cursed with the presence of the day and/or time before I inherited them).
Whilst there are a small number of cases where it makes sense to present the user with a timestamp (project management tools like Basecamp spring to mind), most of the time it’s an unnecessary waste of space. Most commonly used browsing platforms, including my S60 phone, have a clock built in. If I want to know the time or the date, it’s only a brief glance away. There’s no need to waste space on the page by reiterating the obvious.
Today I was at the Science Museum in London, and was interested to see their exhibition of computing through time. They’ve got some really great examples of computers we’ve not used for months and months. Amongst the most impressive, if only in terms of size, was the British built Pegasus valve computer they had on display. This thing is huge and practically prehistoric – dating from 1959 – which is nearly as old as a aunty. Its user interface consists of a panel of switches and two circular display devices that look like they may have once been installed inside a submarine.
But the best bit … well, I’ll let the photo speak for itself.
Everyone has a clock.
Comments
know the time from it and what them to know that their website knows the time too.A lot of websites
ranging back to the 1998’s have the clock on it.Its a good thing.Why do you find it had to put a clock on their page.Give them a clock i say haarr haar..
Drew, although it is rather pointless, it isn’t the greatest sin of web design and I can usualy put up with a clock.
I can see why a clock would be redundant (it’s already shown on the screen anyway) but there would be instances when it would be useful to know what time it is in another country
And it’s only 115 minutes to midnight!
The only other place I could see a potential necessity is when the website is time-critical (i.e., an auction site where you need to know that the time shown for the auction ending is 5 minutes from the actual time shown on the server where the bidding is taking place).
Maybe the client is alluding to another web business that is time dependent in order to add a certain excitement to an otherwise dull page.
The time is fast approaching, rapidly coming up to the hour of six o’clock.
Bloody clocks on websites! I HATE ‘em!!
Business folks seem to think that they’re essential, even when I push their nose into the bottom-right hand corner of their PC screen whilst I scream obscenities at ‘em (well, OK, I don’t, but I’d LIKE to!)
What I do now is suggest that they put their own time on the site… if they INSIST! At least there’s SOME point to that!