Author Topic: Cashless Society  (Read 626 times)

Aruntraveller

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Cashless Society
« on: July 20, 2018, 08:57:49 AM »
An article from Ippy's favourite paper ( :P ), The Guardian. It's about the dangers of tap and go payments and the 'nudging' of customers in a certain direction. Interesting read:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/19/cashless-society-con-big-finance-banks-closing-atms?CMP=fb_gu

I do find myself using the 'tap' method quite frequently now, but I do where ever possible try to get served by a real person at a check out.

Although sometimes I'm not altogether convinced they are human.
Before we work on Artificial Intelligence shouldn't we address the problem of natural stupidity.

Harrowby Hall

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Re: Cashless Society
« Reply #1 on: July 20, 2018, 09:43:05 AM »
Well, I love being able to scan my own shopping as I go round Tesco.

I can pack my bag as I go. I don't have to take everything out of a trolley and put it onto a conveyor belt, then wait while every item is being scanned by someone else and then take an age packing everything into my bag (which has been sitting empty in the trolley). Nor do I hold up half a dozen other people waiting in line for their turn to cause delays (a favourite one being change of mind about a particular item at the last minute when husband runs off to the other end of the store to get one in green ... or something).

I simply download the content of the hand-held scanner, press answers to a couple of check questions and then wave my iPhone in front of the bar code reader and I am done. Two minutes ... max. I look back at the misguided souls who have been patiently waiting for 10 minutes for their turn at the conventional checkout.
Does Magna Carta mean nothing to you? Did she die in vain?

Rhiannon

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Re: Cashless Society
« Reply #2 on: July 20, 2018, 09:50:33 AM »
Big shop - I go through the checkout, through choice, because I like the human interaction and because I'm aware that people need jobs. There, I've said it.

Small shop - scoot through the self scan thing.

wigginhall

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Re: Cashless Society
« Reply #3 on: July 20, 2018, 10:05:58 AM »
Yes, I use the check-out a lot, and I enjoy a good chat there, and I often use cash (old git).
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Nearly Sane

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Re: Cashless Society
« Reply #4 on: July 20, 2018, 10:22:19 AM »
In many ways this is another side to some of the points in The Gadgets that Swallowed the planet thread. Yes banks are looking at how to make profits, and yes, that leads to making some dubious decisions such as closing the last bank branch in remote towns. But that is also governed by behaviour that we chose even without nudging. I'm glad that I don't have to deal with cheques almost completely now. And that with faster payments we no longer have the money effectively being utilised by banks while the payments are being processed.

There are new and different problems with the changes in technology but it is too easy to forget that the previous systems also had problems. The idea that we could suddenly switch back to an all cash society is ludicrous. That's not about having fewer ATMs, it's about removing them all together. They are part of the digital age as well.

Some jobs aren't worth keeping, technology will roll forward so it's about dealing with that, not being a Cnut (or rather knowing what Cnut knew). Branches are currently inefficient though the big job losses in banks in the next 10 years will be in back office functions. Currently the job market seems to be coping with the rise of the robots but we need to be careful with what happens. Much better to be looking at whether we might need some form of basic income rather than smashing the machines.

Our biggest challenge is that the pace of technology change grows faster but our ability to control it doesn't get faster. Legislation and regulation are lumbering behemoths.
« Last Edit: July 20, 2018, 10:31:51 AM by Nearly Sane »