Some of the (very nice) featured pages on SP right now reminded me: why do North American trail signs show distance while signs in the Alps show time?
For example, one of the signs shown on the Saalfeldener Höhenweg page says that a destination is "2 hours" away.
Now, I know how fast I travel, so the North American signs work for me. But I don't know how fast an Austrian sign-poster travels. (I've learned that they travel slower than me, but by variable amounts.)
Plus, North American mileage signs tell me how far I've hiked by the end of the day. My watch tells me how long I've hiked. The Alpine signs don't tell me anything.
Am I missing some advantage of the Alpine system here?