If you use your iPhone or iPod for an alarm, you need to reset it for Daylight Saving Time 2010. Image: Flickr / respres / CC-BY
The fall Daylight Saving Time 2010 switch is officially set to begin at 2 a.m. on Nov. 6. As was discovered when Europe’s Daylight Saving Time 2010 switched over, there is an iPhone glitch that doesn’t register the change. If you use your iPhone as an alarm, then you need to take extra steps to ensure your alarm works the morning of Nov. 6.
The iPhone Daylight Saving Time glitch
The glitch in the iPhone alarm system is one that is happening only for Daylight Saving Time 2010. The code that allows users to set repeating alarms does not register Daylight Saving Time. This means that any repeating alarm, on Nov. 6 any any day thereafter, will ring an hour late. The fix for this is relatively easy — go in and manually set an alarm that NEVER repeats.
iPhone alarm glitch will be fixed
In the next release of the iOS, the iPhone alarm glitch should be fixed. Apple representatives have confirmed the existence of the glitch. After Nov. 7, but before the iPhone / iPad update of iOS 4.2, users will need to re-create any recurring alarms.
Problems with Daylight Saving Time
Though Daylight Saving Time 2010 will be the 92nd year of implementation, problems continue. The iPhone Daylight Saving Time glitch is just one of many problems with switching clocks. In 1993, a German steel facility was significantly damaged when Daylight Saving Time changes were not made correctly. As humans tend to rely more and more on programming, things like the iPhone Daylight Saving Time switch become more dangerous. Some medical equipment incorrectly reads Daylight Saving Time, causing danger to patients. The FDA has released a public health notice about the issue. Asia and Africa do not observe Daylight Saving Time, and Kazakhstan abolished Daylight Saving Time in 2005. Do you think Daylight Saving Time still has relevance, or should it be abolished entirely?
