Step Back In Time
Post categories: Homepage
| 13:32 UK time, Friday, 30 November 2007
One of my first memories of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ was as a child on my first trip to London. We stayed at a hotel in Piccadilly, a magical place for a young man from California, drank sugary watered-down tea and, due to jetlag, woke up and slept odd hours - which meant we were allowed to watch television whenever we awoke.
The ´óÏó´«Ã½ clock, the history of which you can learn more about at , is a memory which stuck with me from that first trip to the UK. I didn't yet know what the ´óÏó´«Ã½ was, but the clock signified to me the wonderful, eccentric strange place that England represented. It signified , and all the best bits of .
This year is the tenth anniversary of the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s presence on the internet; it's a time of celebration of the past and of proud steps into the future. Watch for the return of the clock - a piece of the entire ´óÏó´«Ã½ audience's childhood - in a few weeks...
Update 2008-02-29: Alan Connor of this parish has .
Richard Titus is Acting Head of User Experience & Design, ´óÏó´«Ã½ Future Media & Technology. Many thanks to Gary August of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Heritage for the photo.
Comments
How about reviving the spinning globe ident and the stick-on weather symbols ;)
John has a point. I'm not old enough to remember this ´óÏó´«Ã½ clock when it was on TV, so it just looks weird on the new homepage—especially since it's contained in a black box (I assume this isn't by design).
A digital clock would take up less space and convey more information (not being a 12-hour clock). Even better, don't have a clock at all: most computer environments include one on screen at all times, so it's simply unnecessary.
Well, Mr Nicholson, just because you are too young to remember doesnt mean others don't. I most certainly do remember and think it adds a nice touch to the homepage, at the same time giving a nod to our heritage.
Don't you have any fun in you?
Is there anyway you can use the javascript onunload event to trigger the national anthem??
As www.bbc.co.uk is my homepage, I love the fact there's the big 'analogue' clock there. Beats the silly digital Windows one at the bottom of my screen.
It's only a shame that it's not on every page.
Well done the Beeb !
Re Gavin's comments
"Hear Hear" !
Steve
I remember the Interlude with the spinning potters wheel, and the test card with the little girls and a clown like doll. Can we have the steam train thing back, the one that describes what the travelling Post Office did?
I was 5years old at the time.
I love this clock! can we please have it on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ News page, It brings back so many memories. It should be a permanent ´óÏó´«Ã½ icom, much better than hippos going around in circles.
An analogue clock is so much easer to read than a digital.
Shame it misses a second every minute though to compensate for the second hand tremor.
Good to see it back again, hope it stays..
Having the good old BEEB clock back is a strange bedfellow for the smart new ´óÏó´«Ã½ web home page.
Whilst it's only an Adobe Flash applet, it does show one of the very few useful applications of this generally vastly overused aspect of web sites the world over. Not sure about the carefully scripted second hand tremor, though - it is possible to have the retro without every last detail of the mechanical original.
For those moaning about the sight of an analogue clock, check out for another one that is a modern, sporty version.
Please, though, some of us do like the 'old' analogue style for what it represents. Check out the intricate mechanics of an old clock and give a thought to the craftsmanship it involves, compared to the production line quartz electronics of modern digital.
The eighties was a great time to watch bbc tv. We had the bbc one globe and the 2. It was also a time when we had the clock before news programmes. BRING THEM BOTH BACK AS WELL. also the eighties we had christams idents that was good to watch. now they are awful. come on bbc bring back the eighties.
Ill be honest i'm too young to remember it but i'ts apart of history and that history needs to be reborn before it is lost compleatly. I as a teenage boy know that our generation seems to get Priority over most things.
If i'm wrong please correct me but its going to be small things like this that show that we dont need brand new things to impress people and i think that its important to bring back the clock
The clock is a fantastic "subliminal" dedication to the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s history - it kind of says to the older generation who use the site and are a bit taken aback by the change to the home page "it's ok - Aunties here"
You know everything is ok and familiar - without knowing why! Genius.
Richard,
Well done Beeb! I'm NOT too young to remember and it's a very welcome return (especially the juddering second hand)! The pinnacle of perfection would be someone clever at the Beeb turning the clock into a screensaver for us to download. Anyone willing to turn their hand?
I do not seem to get a clock on my version of the new home page. I get the outline of the 'numbers' around the edge and a white circle in the centre, but no hands, so it is pure decoration to me and I would prefer a working clock please.
Just spotted the "new" retro ´óÏó´«Ã½ clock. Think I spent over 2 mins just staring at it wondering why it was sooo familiar and somehow comforting...
That second hand... oh very nice
Well done ´óÏó´«Ã½.