> An accurate clock / watch -- hard necessity. Good luck functioning in society without it. Opening hours, appointments, public transit schedules, are just few among many things synchronized in time, that expect you to have a clock so you can stay in sync too. And no, you can't get away with a rooster or a sundial, like you could 200 years ago - you need precision of at least a minute.

You might enjoy the short story "Chronopolis" by J.G. Ballard.

It's set in a world where everything had been strictly done according to schedules to maximize efficiency, but it became too much and people rebelled and outlawed clocks.