My wife and I recently drove to Davis to attend a concert on the UC Davis Mondavi Center. The next morning we decided to walk around campus, benefit from the grounds, have a cup of coffee and perhaps visit one in every of the museums. I pulled right into a car parking zone where there was an indication asking “Pay by App.” Parking apps are nothing unusual and generally is a huge relief, especially for individuals who park lots. However, there have been no other payment options similar to a meter or an attendant.
What would you do for those who didn't have a smartphone, ran out of battery or couldn't get a signal? I actually have a working phone so I downloaded the app but couldn't get it to work. After several attempts, I called the university parking office. The person tried to assist, but I still couldn't get the app to work and there have been no other payment options. The sign warned that I could possibly be “cited and/or towed.” Even though we desired to walk around campus, it wasn't well worth the risk. So the museums and cafés didn't get the cash that we’d have spent.
Recently, a person got here as much as me in a car parking zone and asked if he could stand right behind my automotive to sneak through the toll booth. He wasn't attempting to cheat, but there was an issue together with his ticket and there have been no employees to take his money and let him out.
As someone who describes myself as a tech enthusiast, I'm all for the usage of apps, smart devices and other technologies that usually make our lives easier and higher, but I also worry about when these technologies will replace existing ways of doing things , fairly than improving or adding to things.
Ride-hailing apps and cellular phone outages
One example is ride-hailing apps. I like Uber and Lyft and use them continuously, but I wish there have been alternative routes to call and pay for them aside from an app. Not everyone has a working phone or is tech-savvy enough to make use of their app.
I used to be reminded of this last 12 months when AT&T experienced a large cell outage during our visit to New York. Not only could I not take an Uber, I couldn't get walking directions on Google Maps or pay with my phone. Luckily, I even have physical bank cards, I don't mind walking, and New York's grid system makes it easy to search out addresses in the midst of Manhattan. But my wife was attempting to get from Greenwich Village to the lower east side, where navigation is way more complicated. Luckily, she met a neighborhood who accompanied her to her destination. But on one other trip, a colleague of mine had a much worse situation. She landed at JFK Airport during a cellular phone outage. When she couldn't get a Lyft or Uber, she took a taxi. But because of the outage, the motive force's bank card reader didn't work and he or she didn't have enough money to pay the fare. She was in a position to borrow money to pay the motive force, but I ponder if the taxi driver ended up calling off because he knew he is likely to be inadvertently inconvenienced by other cashless customers.
Of course, there was a time when there have been no Ubers, Lyfts, or bank cards to pay for taxi rides. I even remember the time when there have been no ATMs and also you needed to carry money or travelers checks. There wasn't even interstate banking, so I had bank accounts in LA, Chicago, and New York in case I got stuck on a business trip and needed money. But we knew what we were coping with, and sensible travelers were prepared for the world during which we lived. These days, lots of us travel with little or no money. I recently spent 10 days within the UK and Germany without having a pound or euro in my wallet and it worked out well because I could pay for the whole lot with my phone or bank card. Luckily, there have been no phone or power outages during my trip, but I used to be so nervous that my battery might die on some days that I minimized my phone usage to maintain it running.
Nowadays, most airlines now not take money for food on board the flight. But United doesn't even accept bank cards. You should use their app and may't download it once it's within the air. You must arrange your app and supply a payment method before departure.
Other examples include restaurants that require you to make use of an app or website to make a reservation, or the numerous businesses that never answer the phone, assuming they even publish their phone numbers. And don't get me began on voice recognition systems that don't understand what you're saying or aren't programmed to show you how to together with your problem. There have been over and over where I've pressed 0 or called “agent” or “representative” into the phone, which sometimes worked, but often still didn't result in a human being.
More examples
Need more examples? How about self-checkouts which may get you out of the shop quicker or frustrate you to no end? I worry that they may completely replace humans. Another is “smart” devices that require you to make use of voice commands. Again, it's a convenience in the event that they work, but not in the event that they don't understand what you're attempting to say. Have you returned something you bought on Amazon to a Whole Foods store? It's great until you’ll be able to't find the QR code in your phone or your phone doesn't work in the shop. The same goes for paperless concert or movie tickets, that are great provided you will discover and show the required QR code.
I like that the majority of my healthcare providers have portals where I can schedule appointments and think about my test results. But sometimes I get the test results before I confer with my doctor, and any abnormality might be emotionally triggering if I don't know what it means.
I appreciate the motivation behind European data protection laws that require web sites to present you a alternative about which cookies they store. But sometimes the choices are complicated and time-consuming, so it's quicker to simply tick “Accept all”, which defeats the aim of a knowledge protection law.
And finally, there may be the memory of a couple of years ago after I was inspecting televisions and set-top boxes in my family's front room. What was once a user-friendly home entertainment system became a complicated technological project that prompted my then-teenage daughter to say, “Dad, I just want to watch TV.”
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