Show HN: 288 Analog Clocks Give Digital Time

I'd love to see a version of this that didn't go through a "random" phase every few seconds. I'd love to see the actual transitions between the times. I think it would be more subtle, but more elegant. (You might be able to add seconds display to the clock if you wanted it to be more active.)

Meanwhile, this person did a digital clock out of Conway&#x27;s Life:<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;codegolf.stackexchange.com&#x2F;questions&#x2F;88783&#x2F;build-a-digital-clock-in-conways-game-of-life&#x2F;111932#111932" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;codegolf.stackexchange.com&#x2F;questions&#x2F;88783&#x2F;build-a-di...</a>

It would make a nice screen clock if it actually showed the time most of the time. Instead most times when you look at it to see what time it is you have to wait. At that point you&#x27;re pulling your phone out of your pocket and next thing you know you&#x27;re reading HN and wasting time.

This is a design piece, inspired by a gallery exhibition that did something similar, but mechanically.<p>The creator is in this thread and can speak for himself on this, but complaining about it not being a clock you&#x27;d actually use really doesn&#x27;t contribute much.

Those aren&#x27;t analog clocks. Analog clocks don&#x27;t have a state where both hands of the clock are horizontal, or where one is pointing south and the other pointing east or west.

Nice trick, you&#x27;re only using six hours to show the time: four corners, horizontal and vertical. The rest is just random movement to make it look like a complex machine.<p>Kudos.

I have seen a few real ones in design exhibitions [0]. I like this concept.<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=zbulAxkeMbo" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=zbulAxkeMbo</a>

It takes about 15 seconds for the clock to cycle. Only three of these seconds are spent actually showing the time. So if I want to know the time I need to sit and wait typically about 10 seconds before I&#x27;ll know what time it is. It&#x27;s cool, but it&#x27;s upside down. It needs to be a clock first, then cool.

Clever but the clocks aren&#x27;t really analogue. In an analogue clock the movement is continuous and there is no state where both hands are horizontal<p>But still, it really is clever.

Are the &quot;analog&quot; clocks actually analog? Seems like they just transition between discrete states based on the current (digital) time.<p>Still, mesmerizing visualization.

Here is a similar effect, just with physical clocks, and a larger number of them: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=XdaKTnqotbE" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=XdaKTnqotbE</a>

Well I thought it was beautiful and, the real test, my children agree

Would be interesting to see a &quot;digital text&quot; version to display short text messages the same way.

If you look at it long enough, some of the analog clocks start twitching

I want to display this on the iPad and put it in the room.

Why say &quot;over 280&quot; when you could just say 288?