Swatch Internet Time, otherwise known as beat time, is a time concept that was introduced in 1998 and marketed by the Swatch corporation as an alternative, decimal measure of time. Instead of using hours and minutes, beat time is a decimal system that divides each day up into 1,000 parts called ".beats". Each .beat lasts 1 minute and 26.4 seconds. Times are represented by a 3-digit number out of 1000, that gives the number of .beats after midnight. So, @356 would indicate a time given by 356 .beats after midnight = 356/1000 of a day: around 8.5 hours.
In Swatch Internet Time, there are no time zones; only one centralised time. Biel Mean Time (BMT) is used, based on the time in Swatch's headquarters in Biel, Switzerland. Look at the image below to get the up to the minute time in BMT.
Can you think of any advantages or disadvantages to a time system that doesn't have time zones? What are the pros and cons associated with adopting a time concept that uses a decimal system instead of one that uses 60 seconds/60 minutes/24 hours? Why stop at 365 days...?
You can convert your conventional time to .beats here.