Talk:Ithaca Hours

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To Do list moved from main page

TODO : Briefly fill in history 1992 - 1998
TODO : Economic development section needs major editing
TODO : Explain structure of barter system

Needs more explanation

The article seems to be missing a basic description of what the HOUR is and how it's supposed to work. When Glover bought his samoza with a half-HOUR, what exactly was he exchanging? An agreement to provide a one hour service? Doing what? Is there any regulation of the services promised? From what I gather, the HOURS are a kind of light-hearted attempt at promoting ties between businesses. Is that accurate? The article seems to have been written by people very close to the subject, and they may have made assumptions about what lay-people know about the topic.Matt Deres 05:07, 29 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. Too much of it reads like a local newspaper article. HOURS are in a sense light-hearted, but there are enough of them in circulation, and they have been exchanged enough, to count as something more than whimsy. They have also been adopted in many other locations throughout the world. Each Ithaca HOUR is said to be worth $10 and are thus like a conventional currency. When someone joins the HOUR system, they are given some of the currency, and are given more when they renew their committment. As they can only be spent in Ithaca, though, they are local. All of this needs to be explained better in the article. I've made an initial attempt, but more needs to be done. Notmyrealname 02:53, 20 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I also agree. In particular, how are new Ithaca Hours issued? Cazort (talk) 20:06, 9 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Citation?

It is notable as one of three monetary reform measures named as viable alternatives to Bretton Woods system by United Nations conferences (the other two being UNILETS and the Global Resource Bank).

I'd like to see the slightest bit of evidence for this claim, especially considering the third choice is a non-notable organization that one editor has been trying to shoehorn into Wikipedia for the last year, despite 3 AFDs and 2 DRVs. --Calton | Talk 14:31, 26 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I have removed this entirely, since 1) no citation; and 2) the other two examples have both been deleted as non-notable/not real. --Calton | Talk 21:33, 4 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The whole article, as of this morning, had no references! And lots and lots of assertions...I almost think it should be gutted...but I have refrained from doing this and am instead gradually editing, trying to source as many facts as possibly and slowly removing problematic material. Feel free to add back anything I delete if you can find good sources for it. Cazort (talk) 20:39, 12 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Photos?

Photos of the currency would really help the article. Surv1v4l1st ^{(Talk|Contribs)} 23:19, 31 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Defunct?

On our recent trip to Ithaca we saw none of the usual references to Ithaca Hours on store windows or in the various bulletin boards or free pamphlet racks around town and the Farmer's Market. This, combined with the lack of updates to web sites, leads us to wonder if the Hours are still being used. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.166.54.45 (talk) 17:10, 12 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Apparently their use has markedly declined from their peak around the year 2002, but the system hasn't been officially disbanded. I linked to one article that attempts to explain why. Any further links would be useful for the article. SONORAMA (talk) 00:47, 11 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

"HOURS" an acronym?

I've noticed that "Hours", and "HOURS" seem to be used interchangeably, when referring to this currency. Is this just for emphasis (like "USA Today"), or is it a trademark, or acronym?

95.150.175.198 (talk) 15:21, 5 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Who, What, Where, How, and ... Why?

As currently written there is no explanation for the reason the system was implemented. One could click on "local currencies" for a general explanation, but shouldn't it be addressed in the article? It seems like I first heard about this (and the reason it was created) in an article in Parade back in the 90s sometime. 209.179.27.118 (talk) 15:25, 23 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

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LETS system

"In May 1991, local student Patrice Jennings interviewed Glover about the Ithaca LETS enterprise. This conversation strongly reinforced his interest in trade systems. Jennings's research on the Ithaca LETS and its failure was integral to the development of the HOUR currency; conversations between Jennings and Glover helped ensure that HOURS used knowledge of what had not worked with the LETS system."

What was the LETS system? This paragraph is the only mention of it in this article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.235.184.247 (talk) 02:19, 4 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Is the Hour still in existence?

The "official" Ithaca Hour website has not been updated in over a decade. Does anyone still use Hours? Is the organization that backed them up still around? I have my doubts, though offhand I can't find a citation that the experiment is kaput. Even if not formally ended, the Hour seems to have much less use in Ithaca than it once did.

Furthermore, this 2015 article states that another group is starting a digital local currency in Ithaca: https://cointelegraph.com/news/ithaca-ny-launches-its-own-digital-currency-to-boost-local-economy — Preceding unsigned comment added by SONORAMA (talk • contribs) 11:16, 4 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]