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I would generally like it. But logistically, I think it would be confusing to have some states on AT and some on ET. I am just thinking how more complicated my work meetings would be. And they're already hard to schedule as I have to usually account for India attendees and Texas attendees.
Yes, business tends to call the shots? We citizens just vote, and are then ignored.
Businesses, ran and operated by citizens, lobby for policy which benefits them. No sane citizen/business in southern NH would advocate for a time zone change without MA moving in tandem - NH's economy is simply too tied to metro Boston. I'm sure the founder/GM of my company personally wishes for more PM light, but from a business standpoint a time zone change is fraught with issues. So you have a citizen of the state lobbying against his own personal interests to satisfy his and his company/employees financial interests.
Interesting to note how California businesses handle the time difference. Used to live and work out there. Financial analysts I knew, who worked for Hambrect and Quist, would have their first conference call at about 4 AM, and generally would be at their desks when the markets opened. A group that did customer service for a company would have someone at the phone by 6AM. And so forth.
Another job involved daily dealings (literally) with UK, in the pre-email days. Regular call mid-morning. Faxes to them in the afternoon, after they had gone home. They'd act and reply in the morning so responses were at my desk when I arrived in the AM. Then we'd have a call to discussed. Worked very well, and I was in the Central time zone.
Companies adapt much more readily than people do, so I think the example above is driven more by personal preference of the business leadership than by a need.
Especially in this global era, no one cares what time zone you're in. (just like "on the internet, no one knows you're a dog.")
I love the idea, and think it is long overdue but it probably only makes sense if all of New England makes the switch. I don't buy the argument that it will negatively impact commerce. Companies are as likely to have a customer in Japan as New York. You simply move your day around to schedule conferences.
I love the idea, and think it is long overdue but it probably only makes sense if all of New England makes the switch. I don't buy the argument that it will negatively impact commerce. Companies are as likely to have a customer in Japan as New York. You simply move your day around to schedule conferences.
I don't think all of New England has to switch but it would have to be MA, NH and ME and RI to make sense. It would be nice for northern and central New Hampshire if VT went along with it and finally CT doesn't have much of a connection to eastern Massachusetts and New Hampshire so they can stay with NY.
Given how global in scope business has become these days, it would have to be a really pathetic business for a new time zone difference to cause an issue.
In relation to the geographic justification, Maine actally has the most to gain from making the leap, so I think they would follow if MA+NH+RI went to Atlantic Standard.
Quote:
Originally Posted by whocares811
You raise an interesting point about business. I wonder how much business would be affected if there was only a five-hour overlap between the West Coast and upper New England in a normal 8-5 workday; it is often an inconvenience (major or minor) with even a three-hour time difference. Personally, being retired,, I would adapt without much problem, but I just wonder how much of an inconvenience the proposed change would be for many people and businesses.
On the other hand, the change would improve our overlap with the UK, EU.
On the other hand, the change would improve our overlap with the UK, EU.
I'm not sure it would help our local economy much. Sure, some of the pharma/finance sectors heavily communicate with the Euro zones, but prominent local industries such as healthcare are more likely communicating with the midwest (MN) or the west coast. Companies like Seimens and Philips have their U.S. operations functioning largely independent, at least at the dev and marketing levels, even if the markets include EU/Asia.
I think there would be little confusion. People would get used to it. All of New England (yes, I did say all) should go AT and eliminate any time change from daylight saving time. The clock should be kept sprung forward and locked in place so that there is ample daylight after work.
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Time zones are arbitrary, might as well jump
