I’m in Jersey today after getting in late last night. The clock radio in my hotel room was unplugged and needed setting.

Why haven’t clock radio manufacturers figured out a good, consistent way to set these things? For instance, why does the time always start at 12 midnight? Who sets their clocks in the middle of the night? Why not start them at 12 noon, since most of the time they get set in the daytime? Putting them at midnight by default makes you have to move through six hours or more when you set them.

And while we’re on the topic, why are we still setting clock radios? We’re in the third millennium. Why aren’t clocks smart enough to set themselves? With GPS satellites flying overhead, radio stations all over the dial, wireless networking, and mobile phone service everywhere, why can’t clocks use one to set the time?

I think I’ll just go back to using a sundial.