There is an art (and a science) to numerical precision that seems lost in software, writing and conversation. The trick to appropriate precision is understanding accuracy. This all falls under the banner of numeracy.
For example, I just received a confirmation of a cinema booking that gave the time of the film in HH:MM:SS format. The site lists programme times in HH:MM. They normally start trailers within a few minutes of the advertised time. To list seconds is an innumerate and false promise.
I sometimes receive notifications that I can expect a delivery in a 2-hour window such as "between 12:07 and 14:07".
To quote to the minute shows a failure of understanding of what an approximate range is, as well traffic and logistics.
It's a 2-hour window of imprecision. Quoting to the minute shows a deep lack of understanding. Quoting to 5-minute intervals is just about acceptable. To 10- or 15-minute is more appropriate significance. But honestly, in this case, to the hour is just fine.
@bix Gotta love the 12-hour clock. Most people who use it have no proper idea how it works, and will get 12:00 AM/PM wrong (as well as getting confused about the status of 12:01).
Did some work for a logistics company a number of years ago. One of their promo posters got this wrong (or sent mixed messages, depending on your perspective) with something along the lines of "Before midday next delivery: guaranteed before 12:00 AM", which is one statement offering two very different promises 🙃
Kevlin Henney
Andreas Sikkema