Once upon a time, Chris Olson chris_e_olson@yahoo.com said:
One of our STEM interns recently observed that there are inexpensive clocks that sync via radio to standard time services. This begged a question about why every computer would not have a radio module to receive time. Our senior staff did not have a good answer or if time from such a radio module would be supported by the operating system.
Only a very small percentage of computers sold need higher accuracy than can already be obtained from existing network sources. Many computers also are not in a position to receive the radio signals; both the satellite (GPS, GLONAS, etc.) and terrestrial (WWVB, MSF, etc.) signals are relatively difficult to pick up indoors.
Also, while the receiver cost has come down significantly over the years, a typical timing GPS receiver module and antenna is still at least $50, which is a large amount of money compared to the razor-thin margins most computer manufacturers operate under, and would be a significant price increase on a $500 computer. The GPS cost would come down some in volume, but not enough to make it a "throw in".