Boro move to Digital Ticketing 🎟️

[Bob Fischer]

50? Assuming he is in his late fifties or early 60s then, I genuinely struggle to understand how someone of that age group can function well without any of those things. Not doubting your post in any way but I feel like he is missing out a bit. What does he do for work?

I suppose you could be talking about someone who didn't support Boro til later in life though.

I've just turned 50 and I don't own a smartphone. Never have. As I think someone else said in this thread, I'm online all day as part of work (and I work from home, mainly writing features for music magazines) so at 5pm I like to turn off the computer and not be online. I have a basic, 20-year-old PAYG mobile that anyone who knows my number can text and call, but that's it. If I had a smartphone, I'd be at the mercy of instant messaging 24/7 and I'd essentially never stop working. It would be awful for my mental health.

As for functioning, I don't seem to have too many problems! I travel all over the country interviewing people and covering gigs and stuff. By train and car. I'm happy to use a contactless debit card for everything. But I am concerned that I'll soon be alienated from lots of aspects of society because I choose not to have an expensive smartphone that would essentially put me permanently on "duty". Absolutely no problem with anybody else living that way if they're happy, but it's really not for me and I hope that will always be taken into consideration when decisions like this are made.

 

[atypical_boro]

I've just turned 50 and I don't own a smartphone.

OK but I wasn't responding to someone saying they don't have a smartphone. I was responding to someone saying they live basically off the grid, no internet/email and only terrestrial TV (no Netflix etc).

You yourself have said you're on the internet loads and fair play if you want a break from it. But I find it hard to see how anyone can function with ZERO access to it in today's society. Especially someone who is only in their 50s. That's why I asked what they did for work as tbf very few folk are radio presenters Bob. I imagine even a job that requires zero internet access like being a bin man you'd get your rota via email or something.

 

[r00fie1]

I prefer these lyke....

 

[Nano]

It is 2023. There should be no need to pander to the few luddites and refuseniks that refuse to get with the times. I presume it's the oldies that don't have smartphones but they can buy one with the discount they are getting on their tickets.

Smartphones don't have t be expensive. You can get one for less than £50. You can also turn them off when you aren't using it (or just ignore it). There is no need to get an instant messaging service if you don't want one and there is no need to download any apps.

Some people wear it as a weird badge of honour and it's weird. I don't own a smartphone, I don't own a TV, I don't own a car etc.

People refusing to get with the times have to be forced eventually because you are forcing everyone else to have to pay for the inconvenience of the old ways of working.

 

[atypical_boro]

It is 2023. There should be no need to pander to the few luddites and refuseniks that refuse to get with the times. I presume it's the oldies that don't have smartphones but they can buy one with the discount they are getting on their tickets.

Smartphones don't have t be expensive. You can get one for less than £50. You can also turn them off when you aren't using it (or just ignore it). There is no need to get an instant messaging service if you don't want one and there is no need to download any apps.

Some people wear it as a weird badge of honour and it's weird. I don't own a smartphone, I don't own a TV, I don't own a car etc.

People refusing to get with the times have to be forced eventually because you are forcing everyone else to have to pay for the inconvenience of the old ways of working.

To be balanced, I don't think anyone should be forced into buying even a £40 smartphone just to get into the stadium. But I don't think that's what the club are going to do even if they haven't been entirely clear about it, it would be madness to not have a system in place for the small minority of people who don't already own one.

 

[Nano]

To be balanced, I don't think anyone should be forced into buying even a £40 smartphone just to get into the stadium. But I don't think that's what the club are going to do even if they haven't been entirely clear about it, it would be madness to not have a system in place for the small minority of people who don't already own one.

No me neither. I'm more talking about society in general being constantly held back by people complaining every time anything changes.

I presume the club would give the option of using either, most places do, but it may be a print your own ticket if you want a paper one scenario. In that case buying a new smartphone is cheaper than buying a printer. If you want the club to print and deliver it then I think you should expect an increased cost for having to run a separate process for a small number of people.

 

[Marvanelli]

To be balanced, I don't think anyone should be forced into buying even a £40 smartphone just to get into the stadium. But I don't think that's what the club are going to do even if they haven't been entirely clear about it, it would be madness to not have a system in place for the small minority of people who don't already own one.

Exactly.

No fans will be excluded. Whether they have a smartphone or not, all fans will be able to gain entry to the riverside without additional costs. It would be madness by MFC otherwise.

I find it bizarre some fans are worried/complaining about this being a potential problem, without any of the full details being released.

 

[atypical_boro]

I'm more talking about society in general being constantly held back by people complaining every time anything changes.

Its the way of the world though, that will definitely never change!

 

[birkbeck_dj]

Some of the respondents on here

 

[r00fie1]

It is 2023. There should be no need to pander to the few luddites and refuseniks that refuse to get with the times. I presume it's the oldies that don't have smartphones but they can buy one with the discount they are getting on their tickets.

Smartphones don't have t be expensive. You can get one for less than £50. You can also turn them off when you aren't using it (or just ignore it). There is no need to get an instant messaging service if you don't want one and there is no need to download any apps.

Some people wear it as a weird badge of honour and it's weird. I don't own a smartphone, I don't own a TV, I don't own a car etc.

People refusing to get with the times have to be forced eventually because you are forcing everyone else to have to pay for the inconvenience of the old ways of working.

Not a good idea to label people.

What exactly is "get with the times"?

Facial recognition?
ID Cards?
Trusting the state with your personal information?
Allowing Google / Facebook / etc, the right to track, collate and store all your interactions / posts / etc?
Private companies having access to your confidential medical records?
State surveillance of private phone use and collection of personal data?
Profiling "users" to target advertising [tracking] to encourage people to part with their money?


Oddly enough - just like you posted......

" I don't own a smartphone, I don't own a TV, I don't own a car..."

 

[NYboro]

If you forget your card currently it's easy to get a printed ticket from the ticket office.
If your phone dies it will be the same.

I was really referring to the festival thing - all that with a phone and power bank, instead of just using a credit card......

 

[atypical_boro]

Trusting the state with your personal information?

I know someone who has worked for MI5 in the past. The state already know everything there is to know about you whether you like it or not (unless you don't use the internet whatsoever). Its irrelevant whether or not you use a smartphone on this front.

 

[NYboro]

It is 2023. There should be no need to pander to the few luddites and refuseniks that refuse to get with the times. I presume it's the oldies that don't have smartphones but they can buy one with the discount they are getting on their tickets.

Smartphones don't have t be expensive. You can get one for less than £50. You can also turn them off when you aren't using it (or just ignore it). There is no need to get an instant messaging service if you don't want one and there is no need to download any apps.

Some people wear it as a weird badge of honour and it's weird. I don't own a smartphone, I don't own a TV, I don't own a car etc.

People refusing to get with the times have to be forced eventually because you are forcing everyone else to have to pay for the inconvenience of the old ways of working.

Read Bob Fisher's comment above - there are perfectly valid reasons NOT to have a smartphone.

 

[Bob Fischer]

OK but I wasn't responding to someone saying they don't have a smartphone. I was responding to someone saying they live basically off the grid, no internet/email and only terrestrial TV (no Netflix etc).

You yourself have said you're on the internet loads and fair play if you want a break from it. But I find it hard to see how anyone can function with ZERO access to it in today's society. Especially someone who is only in their 50s. That's why I asked what they did for work as tbf very few folk are radio presenters Bob. I imagine even a job that requires zero internet access like being a bin man you'd get your rota via email or something.

Ah, fair enough - yeah, I've got internet access in the house on a desktop PC. But that's all I really want, and I'd be really uncomfortable with more than that.

I'm not a radio presenter either.

 

[atypical_boro]

I'm not a radio presenter either.

Wikipedia says you are!

 

[Bob Fischer]

Wikipedia says you are!

Ha! I'm not still not entirely sure who put me on there, but it's all a bit out of date. I might have a tinker with it in one of the brief windows when I'm online...

 

[asredastheycome]

In fairness, a large proportion of trains now have USB charging points. Some of them even have wireless chargers on the table itself (ok thats only the fancy new ones and you need a newish smartphone for it to work) but your phone battery dying isn't half as bad as losing your actual ticket (which wasn't exactly impossible before the advent of digital tickets). Conductors would invariably make you buy a new one, which to London now at rush hour for me (on the day) is in excess of £200 one way. At least now you can ask someone to borrow a charger (if you don't carry one yourself, which I do, for various devices not just for my ticket).

Three out of the 4 trains I was on at the weekend the chargers did not work. I know its not the norm but thats what it was.

 

[Capybara]

Ha! I'm not still not entirely sure who put me on there, but it's all a bit out of date. I might have a tinker with it in one of the brief windows when I'm online...

Does anyone else on here have a page on Wikipedia? My name appears on a page but that's it.

 

[Nano]

Not a good idea to label people.

What exactly is "get with the times"?

Facial recognition?
ID Cards?
Trusting the state with your personal information?
Allowing Google / Facebook / etc, the right to track, collate and store all your interactions / posts / etc?
Private companies having access to your confidential medical records?
State surveillance of private phone use and collection of personal data?
Profiling "users" to target advertising [tracking] to encourage people to part with their money?


Oddly enough - just like you posted......

Ok. This makes more sense. You seem to be scared of things that don't need to be scared of.

Get with the times means participate in society the same way as everyone else instead of longing for the days of yore.

Facial recognition - what is the problem if it is used appropriately?
ID Cards - clearly a good idea and it is mental that we don't use them as standard. Would make so many things run much more smoothly instead of needing a million different databases linking everything together.
The state already has your personal information. Who else is going to cross-reference records. It would work even better if we had an ID card.
You give Google/Facebook etc that right when you agree to their Ts & Cs. You don't have to use them. Choose different services.
Private companies having access to your medical records can be incredibly useful. If the regulations are in place for the information to be used appropriately then there is no issue.
State surveillance will happen whether you like it or not. Suppose you won't be asking why criminals or terrorists weren't prevented from doing anything because someone was scared of all the surveillance?
Profiling "users" is a choice you make. You don't have to accept the Ts&Cs. Personally I'd rather see useful adverts instead of ones for things I don't need like "single women in my area".

Really your only concern is regulations and not technology.

 

[WilliamMunny]

So instead of carrying a card, you need a phone and a power bank and hope that they both last.

I know my phone and watch last more than 24 hours on a full charge so there's no reason to hope that they last when I'm out and about for the day. The power bank is just a portable charger to use when there is no mains available, such as in a tent at Glastonbury. I wasn't carrying it around with me and I didn't even take it to London as I knew I could recharge every night in my hotel.

I always have my phone with me and certainly wouldn't do Glastonbury or a London weekend without it. So whether or not I choose to carry a bank/credit card is redundant as long as I don't lose my phone.