Items here now won't be there then

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Cash is great for hiding transactions...

Only if you can get hold of it.

[Polar Bear]

Cash, the folding type at least is a simple promissory note.  There have been times that I have seen power cuts, belligerent pos machines, rejected cards, no signal, no battery, etc. resulting in cash only transactions.  In a "cashless" society people will have to revert to no trade or good old pen and paper and IOU's, otherwise known as promissory notes.  Oh, we're back to cash ...

The thing with cash is that it doesn't need an expensive device, an external network, electrickery or even a simple card, it is the ultimate and the simplest way to pay.

I was at the railway station 90 minutes ago buying a ticket.  I prefer counter service if possible because I do find it difficult to read the screen on fast ticket machines.

Tickets ordered, present card to machine.  One green light ...
...
...
...
< waiting patiently >
...
...
...
< becoming mildly anxious >
...
...
...
< machine fails >

Options now?  Ah yes, cash. 

Sometimes technology isn't the answer.

[ian]

If the ticket machine behind the counter fails, you're not going to get a ticket either, cash or not. Or if the counter isn't open.

[Polar Bear]

If, if, if ...   there's always a worse case scenario.

The point is that the pos machine died but cash saved the day.

There are numerous ticketing options including them writing you out a ticket or even buying one on the train.  Today cash trumped convenience.

Neither the card, nor my liquidity are the problem either.  I have used it after the event without issue.

[rafletcher]

But the train conductor would take contactless anyway. Which prompted a thought, does Apple Pay (and the like) need a mobile signal to function (Googles: No, it doesn’t).

[ian]

We don't have train conductors on our line (or whatever they call them) so you'll be sore out of luck paying on the train.

[Cudzoziemiec]

The ticket machine might need a signal to contact the fares database. I know I've been unable to buy a ticket while in the Severn Tunnel.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Rupert Murdoch. It may take a silver bullet and/or a stake.

[Kim]

Rupert Murdoch. It may take a silver bullet and/or a stake.

Newspapers in general.  By which I mean the subscription service by which billionaires ensure they get the government they want, not the advertising-funded journalism product that they were 30+ years ago.  That's been gone for ages, and seems unlikely to return unless someone un-invents computers.

[Mrs Pingu]

I bloody hope you're right, Kim...

[Efrogwr]

Rupert Murdoch. It may take a silver bullet and/or a stake.

And burial at a crossroads.

[Polar Bear]

But the train conductor would take contactless anyway. Which prompted a thought, does Apple Pay (and the like) need a mobile signal to function (Googles: No, it doesn’t).

Many moons ago I joined a train at a point where I could not buy a ticket.  For reasons that I cannot recall the conductor was unable to sell me a ticket but he wrote me a slip and I was able to buy my ticket at my destination.  This was before the days of the interwebs, contactless payments, etc.

[ian]

There used to be little permit-to-travel machines that would give you a little chit in exchange for nominal coinage. They seem to have disappeared. If you can't get a ticket on our line, you just have to blag your way at the excess fare counter at London Bridge.

[mllePB]

Time must be running out for junk food in vending machines.

When did you last see a cigarette vending machine?

[robgul]

Time must be running out for junk food in vending machines.

When did you last see a cigarette vending machine?

Ah - there are legal reasons for there being no cigarette machines - in the same way the cigarettes are not allowed to be on display in shops - so not relly fading away, rather being banned.  But then banning machines selling fizzy drinks would be no bad thing!

[Mr Larrington]

Time must be running out for junk food in vending machines.

When did you last see a cigarette vending machine?

They’re still A Thing in parts of Abroad, usually with some sort of built-in age verification gadgetry.

[Auntie Helen]

Yes, we have them round here.

Plus cigarettes on display at the supermarket checkouts.

[slugbait]

Does that mean every sixth customer gets rejected?  Or do people do PIN transactions frequently enough to not normally encounter it? Or is it a misconfiguration by your bank?

I goto supermarket, buy weeks shopping, insert pin.

Buy a train ticket, contactless

Buy a mars bar, contactless

Buy a new drill at the hardware store, contactless

Buy a new inner tube at the bike shop, contactless

Buy some fries on the way home, contactless

Try to pee at a service station with no pin terminal, payment declined, enter pin...

J

This is not how it works. You need to enter your pin if the transaction is above 50 euros or you have made a 100 euros worth of purchases since you last entered the pin code. You are extremely unlucky if the 50 cents at the station loo makes you exceed the100 euros threshold. However, we can deduce from this that your average purchase is roughly 15 euros.

[quixoticgeek]

This is not how it works. You need to enter your pin if the transaction is above 50 euros or you have made a 100 euros worth of purchases since you last entered the pin code. You are extremely unlucky if the 50 cents at the station loo makes you exceed the100 euros threshold. However, we can deduce from this that your average purchase is roughly 15 euros.

Ah, so that's what triggers it. And yes, my transactions are typically all about €15.

J

[rogerzilla]

Firearms, soldiers and military pilots. 

There will be armies of autonomous laser or flame-throwing robots to take territory instead, and drones for the air.  Not sure about warships; if they are still relevant, they probably need crew for damage control and makeshift repairs.

Firearms really are the film cameras of the killing industry.  Using a small deflagration to hurl a lump of metal at the enemy?  How 16th century.

[nicknack]

Firearms, soldiers and military pilots. 

There will be armies of autonomous laser or flame-throwing robots to take territory instead, and drones for the air.  Not sure about warships; if they are still relevant, they probably need crew for damage control and makeshift repairs.

Firearms really are the film cameras of the killing industry.  Using a small deflagration to hurl a lump of metal at the enemy?  How 16th century.

But what will all those inadequate men pose with to make them look like big boys?

<<<<<saxophones?

[Basil]

Firearms, soldiers and military pilots. 

There will be armies of autonomous laser or flame-throwing robots to take territory instead, and drones for the air.  Not sure about warships; if they are still relevant, they probably need crew for damage control and makeshift repairs.

Firearms really are the film cameras of the killing industry.  Using a small deflagration to hurl a lump of metal at the enemy?  How 16th century.

But what will all those inadequate men pose with to make them look like big boys?

<<<<<saxophones?

Hunting rifles would survive (unfortunately).  There are people who think the best way to get back to nature is is killing it.

[Polar Bear]

Firearms, soldiers and military pilots. 

There will be armies of autonomous laser or flame-throwing robots to take territory instead, and drones for the air.  Not sure about warships; if they are still relevant, they probably need crew for damage control and makeshift repairs.

Firearms really are the film cameras of the killing industry.  Using a small deflagration to hurl a lump of metal at the enemy?  How 16th century.

But what will all those inadequate men pose with to make them look like big boys?

<<<<<saxophones?

Hunting rifles would survive (unfortunately).  There are people who think the best way to get back to nature is is killing it.

Indeed.  Field "sporters' and merkins will probably ensure the longevity of such contraptions for many a century to come.   I can see militias, insurgents and terrorists moving with the times but not the gun fanatics and there are far too many of them.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Firearms, soldiers and military pilots. 

There will be armies of autonomous laser or flame-throwing robots to take territory instead, and drones for the air.  Not sure about warships; if they are still relevant, they probably need crew for damage control and makeshift repairs.

Firearms really are the film cameras of the killing industry.  Using a small deflagration to hurl a lump of metal at the enemy?  How 16th century.

But what will all those inadequate men pose with to make them look like big boys?

<<<<<saxophones?

Advances in batteries will make person-portable railguns practical.
There will be about a decade of whinging about how guns aren't the same without the big bang and a 'a real man smells of gunpowder'.

[JennyB]

Advances in batteries will make person-portable railguns practical.
There will be about a decade of whinging about how guns aren't the same without the big bang and a 'a real man smells of gunpowder'.

There will still be gun hunters just as there are still bow hunters, At least for the ones who don't rely on it for a living. Sport, eh?