A step backwards in telling time.

Dateline: 17 Dec o9




We got two things from the Brits during the First World War, cigarettes and wristwatches.

Let's skip the cigarettes. I do not want to listen to moaning, wailing and the accompanying gnashing of teeth over something that has been beaten well past death and into a bloody puree.

Before that, American man carried pocket watches which were a pain in the ass because you had to dig them out of a pocket or pull them out of a watch pocket with a fob.

For a couple generations, an analog wrist watch served us well until someone got a bright idea and started telling time with an LED module, which is the predecessor to today's LCD.

With the LED you had to push a button to light up the lights and see what time it is. That was a step backwards because now it took 2 hands to see what time it was.

Then LCD came along and we went back to a simple glance at the wrist.

These days wristwatch sales are down and you seldom see anyone under the age of about 25 wearing a wrist watch.

When you ask them why, they explain that their cell phones have the time on them. They're correct. Cell phones have a clock built in. Even the $20 cheapie I carry that I got from Wally World has a clock built in to it.

Now we're back to the pre WW1 style of telling time.

You have to dig your watch, now a part of a cell phone, out of a pocket again to see what time it is. If it's not in a pocket, it's on a belt pouch, which, I guess, is the modern day equivilent of a watch pocket.

This is par golf because young people don't really seem to put a premium on punctuality these days.

Being an old school sailorman, I'll keep my wrist watch, thank you.