What if we counted time backward? Start at the 24th hour and count down to -0-.

Counting down will always remind us how many hours are left in the day, instead of how many hours have passed since the day started.

On November 4, 2008Florence, Tuscan Traveler's Tales posted a story that tells the story about a 24-hour clock, Tuscan Traveler’s Tales – Duomo Clock that Keeps “Italian Time”

Most people don’t know that modern clocks run on “French Time.” There is only one clock in the world that runs on “Italian Time” and it is in the Duomo in Florence.

“Paolo made the colored sphere of the hours above the main door of the Church, with four heads, painted in fresco.” Giorgio Vasari, in his “Lives of the Artists” (1550), goes on to tell us that Paolo Uccello was paid 40 lire in February 1443 when he finished the face of the clock, decorated with the heads of the four Evangelists, on the inner fa?ade of the front wall of Florence’s Duomo (cathedral). Uccello also designed the single golden shooting star-shaped hand that circled his fresco, denoting the time.

The BBC ran a story last night suggesting that the clock that has been the center of our time planning is out of touch with millennials, they see time digitally and not analog. The discussion brought up the fact that our existing familiar timepieces are based on a French principal of time. The Italians had a different vision of time but they lost the technology race back in the 1400's.

Interesting Aspects to Counting Down, instead of up.

1. we would start the day knowing how many hours were left
2. who cares about the time behind us - we can only effect the time in front if us
3. History would look so interesting, we might say things like "with only 6 hours left in the day..."
4. Rocket launches countdown - it gives us an awareness of the time left to do all of our tasks
5. T-5, might be 5 hours of the active day left before we finish our work day, more a sense of urgency around tasks to be finished before ending the day?

We all do it - we count down the hours until work ends, or counting down the hours until vacation, but we never count up the days - it seems the way we think about time remaining is out of sync with the way we think about timelines and activities.

Digital things could count down, and give us a sense of the time remaining, yet Watches (invented during WW1) could remain the same - so nostalgic people could stay in the count up mode.

The break with convention offers an interesting perspective and it would be interesting to hear your perspective - do you like the idea or would this be too unconventional? Share your thoughts?