Comment by hedora | Hacker News Reader

Comment by hedora | Hacker News Reader

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Maybe the bay area is a particularly dystopian hellscape compared to the rest of the US, but here are some things that don't work here without a smartphone:

- Going to large event venues. Ticketmaster implemented a rotating barcode system, specifically to prevent people from using printed tickets. You have to either (1) use their webpage at the event where there's no cell service (2) install their malware on your phone or (3) on iOS add the ticket to Apple Wallet.

- Park in touristy areas. Parking meters still accept quarters, but a typical parking session is $20-$50, and the meters don't appear to be physically large enough to accept that many quarters.

- Charge your electric vehicle (Unless it's a tesla, maybe? Mine isn't.)

- Get into your office building (if you still have a commute)

- Get the lowest available rate for public transit

- Ticketmaster: no idea, I haven't gone to those events since the 20th century. It does sound dystopian but also for most people, at most a very occasional thing, no reason to carry a smartphone every day. Especially if there is no cell service at those events, you don't need a phone per se.

- Parking: parking meters here take credit cards. They also take 1 dollar coins which are slightly bigger than quarters. I used to carry a few in my car for that purpose.

- EV charging: hmm ok, though sort of a niche use. There are some chargers near here but idk what it takes to use them. Maybe I'll check.

- Office building: I'm used to access cards, has that changed? Anyway if I need it for work, that's a work phone, not a personal phone, more or less. And it also sounds dystopian, if it requires cell service to work, or if you have to install a malware app.

- public transit: idk if it's even possible to pay with a phone here. They want us to use the Clipper card, clippercard.com.

I've never had a problem being able to pick up tickets at the will call office at venues here

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