Down through history people have tried many ways to tell the time and to find something that would wake them up at their preferred time of day. For thousands of years people told the time by the sun. It was fairly simple; when the sun arose in the morning, it was time to get up for the day.

But the time of the sun alarm clock is gone. We now live in a time where we have the electric rooster to wake us up. Yes, the alarm clock. The alarm clock comes in all shapes, colors and materials with all sorts of sounds to wake us up.

There are even alarm clocks that will set themselves to the local time of wherever you happen to be with just a flip of a switch. One clock keeps in contact with a clock in Colorado for accuracy that is 10 billionth of a second and connects to other clocks around the world. Wow, talk about keeping time.

The modern day alarm clocks have snooze alarms, time zone indicators, calendars with the day and time. Some alarm clocks are small and suited for travel. They are small enough to slip into a handbag or suitcase and still keep accurate time.

Many of the new alarm clocks have radios. You can wake up to the sound of your favorite radio program or to a buzzer, music, bell, whistles and chimes. Some of the more modern alarm clocks allow you to wake up slowly to beautiful sounds that get louder or have gentle Tibetan bell-like chimes. Some will even wake you with a talking human voice. This type will tell you its time to get up, tell you the time and the temperature and on those cold mornings when it is 20 degrees, they have the snooze button to push and it will wake you up ten minutes later.

And don't worry about setting some of these new fangled deals. They have an antenna icon that will search the airwaves for the correct time.

In the olden days of clocks, they had to be wound up every day and had the little hands that went round and round. Now, we have digital! Just a glance at the clock and it tells you the time.

Some alarm clocks are made of plastic, some of glass and some wood, it has been said that one company even makes one of marble. You can hang some on the wall or sit them on a desk or night stand.

If you have trouble seeing a small digital clock, there are some with very large numbers so you won't have to scramble for your glasses when the alarm goes off. You are able to glance at it and then hit the snooze.

Alarm clocks nowadays are run off of electricity, batteries and some companies even make alarm clocks that run off of solar energy.

So, if you need a new alarm clock you might want to consider one of the newer types, which make it easier to get up and face the day and that is something we could all use.