I am SO tired of trying to find a decent alarm clock.  

alarm clock
I had this alarm clock for a while (in orange). I loved it, until it fell off the nightstand one too many times.
http://www.retromodern.com/item_detail.asp?6278.

Hi Olive -
I know exactly...
Hi Olive -
I know exactly how you feel - I feel that alarmclocks - together with SUVs, portable stereos and sneakers have been on steroids lately - making it nearly impossible to find something simple and streamlined. - I did however own a very nice alarm clock a few years back designed by the head designer of B&O (I beleive his name might have been Jacob Jensen?) that I bought in a store here in New York - it was simple, streamlined, beautiful and inexpensive. I am sure you can find it somewhere online - Good luck!

Olive -
I found the alarm...
Olive -
I found the alarm clock I was talking about -
I don't know where you are but am sure it's available worldwide - anyhow, here's a link so you get an idea what it looks like: http://www.designstore.com/jacjenalcloc.html

drat
I like the clock so much I was about to order one myself. It has great aesthetics and a great price ? but I hate the fact that it will not display the US 12 hour function. No 15 o'clocks for me!

ikea
"Slabang" model for around $12 US. It'll be fine.

15 o'clock
Nice clock, not sure if I could deal with 15 o'clock either, though. Slabang is battery operated, I want powered. I try to avoid using too many things with batteries. They're extremely polluting. Small gesture, but one dirty power source (electricity) is enough for me. Certainly is a nice simple design, however. DavidDC's is reasonable, too. Yay, there's hope!

6 pm?
Help me to understand; a day has 24 hours, so what's the point in deviding it into two times 12 hours? Why not devide an hour into two times 30 minutes. So when it's 16:40, why don't you write 04(pm):10(ph)? ph standing for (past half hour)? It just doen't make sense. What is the actual use. Are numbers higher than 12 to big? Is it too much work to deduct 12?
Help me here, I'm sure there is a perfectly sensible reason...
(I don't even want to start on the non existing reasons for not using the metric system or driving on the left side)

ah
ph being ah (after half hour)

the one good reason is...
the one good reason is because that is how we do it. it's my native land's way of doing things, so that is how i have done it since birth. anything else seems strange. i want others to respect my customs just as i respect theirs wether they make sense or not. i don't wear a plate in my lip, and to me it seems very strange, but to someone it's normal. fine by me.

Extremely old and not at all American
Tilanus, my dad is a horologist (clock guy) so I'll take a stab at explaining what I know from him. The way our time measuring system is arranged is far older than the 12 vs 24 hours differences. It's based on the 60-based(sexigesimal)numbering sysyem of the ancient Sumerians. It had to do with daylight hours and night time hours, 12 hours each. The 'hour' is a watch as in 'standing watch'. The 24-hour system is a new adaptation, early clocks (the word actually comes from a older word meaning bell)were 12 hours (daylight only) or sometimes just one hour, as in 'hourglass'. We've been telling time like this for about 4000 years. So I'll stick to the 12-hour system, logical or not.

Ok,
That is a good reason. Don't get me wrong. I do respect every individual and every country, race or tribes customs traditions and ways of life and doing things. I just wondered if you look at it objectively, doesn't it seem a bit odd?

thanks Olive,
I learned something new again today. That seems to be a very plausible explenation. But time moves on. In the last 4000 years, time systems have changed and have been adjusted and fine tuned, calendar systems have changed a few times. Why not move on yourself?
Again, if you feel more comfortable with 12 hours am and 12 hours pm, that's fine with me. Just the reason that that's what you grew up with and that's what you want to stick to, I find a bit easy and conservative. Not everything you grow up with has to stay with you the rest of your life, right?

Getting back to the original thread,
Does anyone else out there have suggestions for an alarm clock? I am in the same predicament as Olive. I want AC power, not battery. I have considered trying a 70's(?) "flip clock" commonly available on Ebay but I would like to have more choices available. Anyone??

"Just the reason that that's...
"Just the reason that that's what you grew up with and that's what you want to stick to, I find a bit easy and conservative. Not everything you grow up with has to stay with you the rest of your life, right?"
You're right it is easy. That's the best reason to stick with it. Charles Eames says 'innovate as a last resort.'
Telling time is very much part of a language. Why would it make sense for me to start using another way to tell time when few people in my land would understand it. What don't I just start speaking Japanese here whil I'm at it? It would be quite unproductive. How old would it get explaining myself to every person I make a lunch meeting with?
I don't think things should stay the same where it needs to change. This use of time language is not negatively affectling anything. I live in the deep south and I'll be the first in line to vote for gay marriage and alternate energy sources. I'm just not that concerned as to how we tell time (or measure a cup of milk for that matter) ... as long as we show up in time it works.