andrewducker: (Default)
andrewducker ([personal profile] andrewducker) wrote2018-01-05 12:00 pm

Interesting Links for 05-01-2018

movingfinger: (Default)

[personal profile] movingfinger 2018-01-07 09:12 pm (UTC)(link)
I was just put in mind again of the smartphone piece by circumstances, and I looked at it as I forwarded it to someone.

I don't think the author addresses one of the strongest reasons I have to using my smartphone to pay for parking (specifically): there is a surcharge. Your parking fee is marked up by a small amount each time you use the app our city has---to buy time, to add time, whatever. In my previous city they installed smart meters with credit card readers, and those too charged a *stinking* fee---in effect it was a $5 minimum for any parking meter use if you had a credit card. The local parking cards were not easy to buy (only one retailer had them and they weren't always in stock) and the card slots frequently didn't work.

If smartphone is going to be a default payment method, then users should not be charged different rates for cash, smartphone, or card-on-the-spot payments, and the app should not be provided by a for-profit corporation skimming the revenues.
movingfinger: (Default)

[personal profile] movingfinger 2018-01-07 09:41 pm (UTC)(link)
That's wonderful!

[I get the message, universe, I should simply MOVE.]
movingfinger: (Default)

[personal profile] movingfinger 2018-01-07 10:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Think of it as nobly setting an example for the colonies.