How the snooze button got set to 9 minutes, and why it hasn't changed

Image: TelechronIn the mid-1950s, arguably a time of huge technical advances and massive growth in the household appliance market, the first bedside alarm clock with a snooze button was released. Marketed as "the world's most humane alarm clock," General Electric-Telechron introduced the "Snooz-Alarm" model as a "new kind of alarm" that "wakes you, lets you snooze, wakes you again!"Rivals Westclox swiftly followed with a "Drowse" button, offering a 5- or 10-minute respite from your alarm, a standard it continued for many years after. However, it was the "snooze" description and nine-minute duration that won, eventually becoming the industry standard still recognized today.Few manufacturers have since tried to mess with the format, although the popular Sony range of Dream Machine alarm clocks boasted a large snooze button labelled as a "Dream Bar" for many years. The snooze function had to be worked in around the existing gearing of a small alarm clock, and keeping the time period in single digits is said to have presented a more logical technical solution. We tap a touchscreen, or simply tell our devices to "snooze." A recent survey of nearly 20,000 people by Withings found that around 50% admitted to hitting the snooze button at least once in the morning, with a sleepy 15% putting off their alarm three times or more.Withings found the under-30 age group are the guiltiest for multiple snoozes.