[OT] Time sync of arbitrary consumer devices

[Don Russell]

Michael A. Peters wrote:
> Something that has bugged me for years - I have to manually set the time
> on my microwave, on my stove, on my VCR (it will auto-sync if I pay for
> cable, but cable does not offer me what I consider to be programming
> worth what they want to charge - well, I would watch the sci-fi channel,
> had I the time to watch it ...), my wall clocks, etc.

[snip]

That's been around for as long as I can remember... at least 30 years... 
in North America the WWV time signal and it's associates WWV-B all 
shortwave signals, synch'd to the US Naval Observatory Atomic (Cesium) 
clock which is the "official" time in the USA.

I'm seeing more and more consumer-grade devices that listen for that signal.

Walmart sells "ATOMIC CLOCKS", well, of course the clocks are not 
atomic... but they have a short wave receiver in them, and a switch on 
the back to set your UTC offset (since WWV broadcasts UTC) and something 
to indicate whether you participate in Daylight Saving Time or not.

So.... why isn't that technology in every consumer device with a clock? 
Because it costs $1 to add it at the mfg level and not enough people 
want it.

Now that technology is being usurped by GPS... a GPS unit in a vehicle 
could set it's own timezone... it know where it is (from the GPS 
signals) and it knows what time it is (from the GPS signals)

Except GPS is strictly line-of-sight.... so unless I keep all my 
appliances in an open field... they won't get the GPS signals. :-)

<paranoia>
Beside, then the gov't would start stealing time.... they'd slow the 
clocks during working hours so you work longer for the same pay, and 
they'd speed the clocks up during off hours so you get back to work sooner.
</paranoia>

:-)