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Comment by throwawaysleep | Hacker News Reader

How much should museums waste on customer service staff to take your money? And security staff for managing the queues?

Right? What next, ramps for wheelchair users? /s

In all seriousness, there is a point to be made about equity at a minimal viable level, and if you don’t want to enable access for everyone, you’re not permitted to operate. Very similar to how some jurisdictions have outlawed not accepting cash (because this policy impacts the unbanked, underbanked, and low income disproportionately). Streamlining, efficiencies, and improved experiences via digital delivery are welcome, but once you start tiptoeing into disenfranchising cohorts by doing so (even unintentionally), that’s where regulation comes in.

“You should just get a smartphone” is an unreasonable position to take and policy should actively discourage outcomes based on that position. It’s an accessibility and “fail safe|gracefully” issue.

> “You should just get a smartphone” is an unreasonable position to take and policy should actively discourage outcomes based on that position. It’s an accessibility and “fail safe|gracefully” issue.

Is you must have an ID to get on plane also unreasonable? A modern smart phone (at least an iPhone) has all sorts of affordances that make life easier for the disabled.

Yes, of course - an iphone is so much cheaper and easier to use than a passport or a paper boarding pass.

Wow, a $1000 dollar phone is cheaper than carrying a paper document? I guess that logic escapes me.

I meant it to be sarcasm, obviously failed

Yeah sarcasm generally fails. Sometimes I put <sarcasm>...</sarcasm> :)

Sarcasm fails sometimes because there are indeed some people that genuinely hold such ridiculous views.

A brand new iPhone can be purchased for as little as $429.

I actually think it's unreasonable, and it never used to be required for a domestic flight. If you had a ticket, you could get on the plane. Same as trains and buses still work at least in most places.

> you must have an ID to get on plane

You don’t. You can show up at a TSA checkpoint without ID and they’ll identity proof you on the spot. As an identity nerd, I’ve done it just to try it to experience and confirm the TSA’s process. Next time you pass through a checkpoint, ask!

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/frequently-asked-questions/i-forg...

With that said, a physical credential and a smartphone are wildly different from an accessibility perspective. You can get a REAL ID compliant state credential for under $100. Poor comparison.

> because this policy impacts the unbanked, underbanked, and low income disproportionately

Imagine the absurdity of forcing banks to universally provide what ended up being an essential service by their own design?

That's the problem, they haven't changed staffing. Customer service is still there. Staff for managing queues is still there. The wait has increased, and hasn't decreased the need for staff.

Presumably this is all done so they can get a verified email address for marketing purposes, as proof of entry only arrives via email.

They still have the same customer service staff, but they're now just scanning your QR code instead of taking cash.

And security staff and queue management is always going to be needed if the place is large and crowded.

The time it takes a scan a code is a lot less than ringing up a transaction.

when everything is perfect first time maybe.

Yes, but the time it takes the visitor to get a QR code is a lot more than ringing up a transaction. The museum has offloaded work on the visitor and this is not acceptable. The visitor, after all, is the one paying the bill.

Before that the phone system offloaded work to their subscribers, who now needed to listen to and understand the various tones (dial, ringing, busy) and remember phone numbers.

> waste on customer service

I hate to say it but there needs to be some regulation about customer service, ie not allowing companies to not provide it by pawning people off on digital solutions. So many businesses are only viable because they don't provide customer support, and I don't think that's un society's interest.

Make those who want it pay for it then, like with Ryanair.

Neither one of those roles has become obsolete with the introduction of said apps, I wouldn't even say there's any difference in staffing requirements. You've simply replaced one problem with another, instead of simply taking your money, the worker now has to figure out why the app doesn't accept your card/phone/address/etc which is arguably much more time consuming.

I don't think this is really an issue, but even if you do it's trivially solvable. Vending machines have [somewhat surprisingly] been around for hundreds of years. Single slot generic items, like generic tickets, could easily be 'automated' by a vending machine. Few to no places do this because it's not a meaningful bottle-neck or labor issue.

Isn't the entire point of a museum customer service? What else are they doing other than preserving the stuff? Isn't a museum with bad customer service more properly called a "warehouse"?

So long as they are getting my tax money, as much as I want.

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