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Comment by klyrs | Hacker News Reader

1. Why do I want people to contact me while I'm out? It's almost always spam, and assuming it's not, it's almost always a them problem.

2. If I did want people to contact me, a flip phone would work fine for that.

Without a smart phone with a data plan, it is becoming harder and harder to navigate the world made for advertizers and cellular providers. And these parking companies don't want to make it easy for you to pay for parking. They'd much rather you have a frustrating experience, take the risk of not paying and getting impounded.

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>Why do I want people to contact me while I'm out?

I mean I would think you have a family and just to organize something you would need to communicate, even when you're outside.

>a flip phone would work fine for that.

Yes flip phones are indeed cell phones.

> I mean I would think you have a family and just to organize something you would need to communicate, even when you're outside.

This seems to come as a shock to much of the HN crowd, but people did in fact manage to organize things before cell phones existed.

People even made plans to meet at a specific time and place before phones were invented. When they left their houses, nobody was able to deliver a letter to them. I'd say it went fine, but honestly, they're all dead now.

If only they'd been carrying an emergency phone at all times

There was even a time when people used to get around without driving, and so they didn't have to worry about finding a parking space.

> people used to get around without driving

Believe it or not, they still do.

That's not something american urban planning believes

They can send an email. Or call me when I'm at home. If I'm not home I'm away.

Why is that so hard for people to grasp?

I do have a family. We often organize things. We do that in advance and stick to our plans. It works well.

I was appalled when my transit system recently introduced mobile fares, and I let them know exactly how I feel, as a designated early tester.

First you gotta install their atrocious little app, which I've always avoided because it was buggy and Google Maps gave the same real-time info in a better interface. So then you purchase some passes. They're QR-based, they're not NFC. Ugh, why?

Then during your entire voyage you'll need to maintain both connectivity and battery life. I hear tell that NFC can even survive a dead phone battery, but not a QR app. I was pissed about the connectivity, because I tend to disable networking while traveling, and I have a 1GiB data plan. Also, it makes for one-handed boarding because they mean it when they say "Have Fare Ready" so I feel like fiddling with my phone onboard is like fishing in my pockets for a pass, but worse, and I've already had passengers complain at me.

Now they're revamping the fare system again, and they're introducing NFC-card-based payments as well as account-based rather than pass-based fares. The punch line is that the mobile app won't be compatible with the card, so you need to choose one or the other, permanently. Guess I know which way I'll go.

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