Swatch Internet Time ('.beat') — decimal global timekeeping

Key characteristics

• The day runs from @000 at midnight BMT to @999 just before the next midnight; @500 marks midday BMT.
• Each beat equals 86.4 seconds (1,000 beats = 24 hours).
• Time is shown as three digits preceded by "@" (for example, @042).
• Internet Time does not observe daylight saving: the reference remains UTC+1 year‑round.

Conversion between local civil time and Internet Time requires converting a clock reading to the Biel reference (UTC+1), measuring the seconds elapsed since that reference midnight, and dividing by 86.4 to obtain the beat count. In practical terms, @500 corresponds to noon in Biel (BMT), which equates to 11:00 UTC. Because BMT stays fixed, the beat number for a given local clock time shifts when DST rules change in a locality.

History and motivation

Swatch presented Internet Time as a marketing and cultural concept tied to the growth of online communication in the late 1990s. The idea aimed to simplify scheduling across time zones by replacing multiple local times with a single, universal count of beats. Promotional materials and some early web sites showed beats alongside conventional time, and the notation was promoted as a way to coordinate global activities without dealing with time‑zone arithmetic.

Usage, support and reception

Adoption of Internet Time was always limited. It found niche use among enthusiasts and in certain online communities and promotional products, but it never displaced standard timekeeping. Some software tools and desktop widgets offered beat displays, and a number of Linux utilities or desklets can show Internet Time as an optional clock format. Major operating systems and international standards continued to rely on conventional time zones and UTC.

Practical examples and notable points

• To read the notation, write the at sign followed by three digits: e.g. @000, @250, @999.
• Because it is tied to Biel (Swatch's home), promotional materials often linked Internet Time to the company: see Swatch for historical coverage.
• Internet Time is conceptually similar to earlier proposals to decimalize the day, but it remains primarily a curiosity and a branding effort rather than an accepted civil standard.

While its practical impact was modest, Swatch Internet Time remains an interesting example of efforts to simplify global coordination by redefining how people express the time of day. It highlights both the appeal and the challenges of replacing long‑standing conventions with a single universal clock.