Sunday, August 21, 2005

Material Culture

A surprising proportion (maybe even half) of the people who come to the desk don't wear watches. When they want to sign up for internet time and we tell them what the next available time slot is, they whip out their cell phone (or it's already in their hand, more likely) to see what time it is. Or they ask us, or look wildly around for a clock.
       It turns out that wrist watches haven't been around all that long : Patek Phillippe made the first one in 1868. Pocket watches have been around since 1524, but wearing the personal timepiece strapped to one's body was perhaps a custom that lasted only 150 years...

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