kristin
07-06-2006, 04:35 PM
Unique Wristwatch Displays Time in Binary Form
(July 5, '06, 3:18 IDEX Online Staff Reporter)
A new wristwatch is gaining the attention of techies, geeks, and fun-loving souls everywhere. The watch displays time in binary format, a digital coding system that only has two numbers: 1 and 0.
The watch, named 1HE 0NE, uses LED lights to indicate hours on the top row, and minutes on the second row. LED ON means 1. LED OFF means 0.
Although this may sound daunting to those who took the “Math for Dummies” class in school, the designers have made the translation of these scattered lights fairly simple by placing the equivalent decoding numbers just above each glowing dot. Add up the numbers, and you have the exact time.
“Truthfully, we didn’t know if this idea would catch on,” said Benzi Rosenski, president of Cosmos Marketing, Inc. the sole distributor of 1HE 0NE in the U.S. “But it has turned out to be one of our best selling designs. People like the fact that it is so different from any other watch-face, and that they can tease friends who haven’t yet figured out how to read it.”
"It is more difficult to tell time with this watch," Rosenski told IDEX Online, "but this is not the point. It is different and cool. The design itself was built around this idea. A person wearing this watch can be proud to be the only one among his friends to be able to decode the display. The trick to do it is quite simple and requires a quick mental calculation, but it is not common knowledge. The binary format is the format that allowed computers to evolve. It is the language of twos. 1 and 0, yes and no, on and off, light or no light. This is why it is deterministic and precise. Hence the brand name 1HE 0NE."
First introduced just over a year ago, 1HE 0NE was a hit at timepiece shows in Munich, Hong Kong, Salzburg and Dubai, and is now sold through the Discovery Channel Stores and ThinkGeek.com. The target audience of the watch is young people, both males and females, some are techies and some are just fashion conscious with flare for innovation, says Rosenski.
The watch also appears in a new German math book that teaches children the binary system, which boosted sales of the watch in the country.
All 1HE ONE watches are made of stainless steel and are water resistant. There are more than 30 models, including a choice of red or blue LED readouts, circuit board or plain face, leather band or brushed stainless bracelet, and numerous other options. The watches retail for $89 to $199
Asked about the company's plans for the future, Rosenski says, "We are in the process of developing new models using LEDs to show time in regular common format (i.e. not in binary format). We are also designing a new model for the binary which will be even more different than what we currently have."
The displayed time is 7:49
(July 5, '06, 3:18 IDEX Online Staff Reporter)
A new wristwatch is gaining the attention of techies, geeks, and fun-loving souls everywhere. The watch displays time in binary format, a digital coding system that only has two numbers: 1 and 0.
The watch, named 1HE 0NE, uses LED lights to indicate hours on the top row, and minutes on the second row. LED ON means 1. LED OFF means 0.
Although this may sound daunting to those who took the “Math for Dummies” class in school, the designers have made the translation of these scattered lights fairly simple by placing the equivalent decoding numbers just above each glowing dot. Add up the numbers, and you have the exact time.
“Truthfully, we didn’t know if this idea would catch on,” said Benzi Rosenski, president of Cosmos Marketing, Inc. the sole distributor of 1HE 0NE in the U.S. “But it has turned out to be one of our best selling designs. People like the fact that it is so different from any other watch-face, and that they can tease friends who haven’t yet figured out how to read it.”
"It is more difficult to tell time with this watch," Rosenski told IDEX Online, "but this is not the point. It is different and cool. The design itself was built around this idea. A person wearing this watch can be proud to be the only one among his friends to be able to decode the display. The trick to do it is quite simple and requires a quick mental calculation, but it is not common knowledge. The binary format is the format that allowed computers to evolve. It is the language of twos. 1 and 0, yes and no, on and off, light or no light. This is why it is deterministic and precise. Hence the brand name 1HE 0NE."
First introduced just over a year ago, 1HE 0NE was a hit at timepiece shows in Munich, Hong Kong, Salzburg and Dubai, and is now sold through the Discovery Channel Stores and ThinkGeek.com. The target audience of the watch is young people, both males and females, some are techies and some are just fashion conscious with flare for innovation, says Rosenski.
The watch also appears in a new German math book that teaches children the binary system, which boosted sales of the watch in the country.
All 1HE ONE watches are made of stainless steel and are water resistant. There are more than 30 models, including a choice of red or blue LED readouts, circuit board or plain face, leather band or brushed stainless bracelet, and numerous other options. The watches retail for $89 to $199
Asked about the company's plans for the future, Rosenski says, "We are in the process of developing new models using LEDs to show time in regular common format (i.e. not in binary format). We are also designing a new model for the binary which will be even more different than what we currently have."
The displayed time is 7:49