Damn DST (*yawn*)
30 November -0001
Ok, so it's the day for the new daylight savings time (DST to those in the know). This change in the clocks is supposed to save energy, but as two economics students point out this may not be the case. One thing the article fails to take into account, which I feel has a rather large impact on the cost savings analysis of DST, is the price that companies have had to pay in terms of IT costs. The cost to develop patches for software and services, the time staff have had to spend devoted to deploying patches, testing systems and insuring that they all function properly. I'm sitting at my desk at a major university and my Cisco 'iPhone' is displaying the wrong time right now. How many IT workers are spending hours, days, or even weeks dealing with this shift? What's the overall loss in productivity due to this redeployment of resources? How much are companies paying in terms of IT budget to ensure that their systems don't foul up executives' schedules when they sync their smartphones this morning when they come into the office? I'm sure there are other hidden costs, but I'm too groggy this morning to think of them...