Hacker News Reader

Comment by jonas21 | Hacker News Reader

I went looking for a picture of the retired analog countdown clock from the article, expecting to see a giant clock face with hands.

But as far as I can tell, the analog clock they're referring to is the one in the photo on the right here [1], which most people would probably consider digital.

[1] https://www.nasa.gov/content/new-display-counts-down-for-new...

View on HN

It doesn't use a digital display, so how can it be considered digital?

"Digital [adj]: (of a clock or watch) showing the time by means of displayed digits rather than hands or a pointer."

Imagine the confusion in an alternate universe where the clockmakers of old decided to call the pointing sticks "fingers" instead of "hands".

I think scoreboards would be considered digital displays even if they use lights to make the numbers.

Digital. Digit-al. It displays the time in terms of digits.

FWIW, It's not just the AtlasObscura writer. NASA calls it analog on the page referenced: "Workers remove the analog countdown clock from its mount..."

Yes. It's an analog digital clock.

And I guess something like this[1] is a digital analog clock.

[1]: http://media.idownloadblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Cl...

Does it display digits?

  A digital clock is a type of clock that displays the time
  digitally (i.e. in numerals or other symbols), as opposed 
  to an analog clock, where the time is indicated by the 
  positions of rotating hands.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_clock

Reply on news.ycombinator.com