Lu, Magical GothAug 24, 2023
Arthur Charpentier ⏚ 🇨🇦 🇯🇵
Just what part of "easier and more convenient" don't you get ?
Aug 24, 2023 at 10:02amWeb
Show threadGrandpa DonAug 24, 2023
@freakonometrics
I have seen people ranting about street people panhandling when there are "help wanted" signs nearby. I tried to help a kid apply for a job at a fast food place.
Go home, create an account, fill out a form with personal info, then take a personality test to see how well you work with others blah blah blah, then wait to see if they call.
Oh, and since they rarely do, do this for about 10 of them.
Show threadDick Smiths Fair Go SupportersAug 24, 2023

@freakonometrics @dbc3

Personality tests and train passes that also require a person identify themselves, and also to ScAmazon, CloudGlare and Akamai.

Smart cities — only their people are not smart.

#smartCities #personalityTests

Show threadklausfiend has movedAug 24, 2023
@freakonometrics no joke but the Portuguese rapid train system asks you how many male children you have when you're forced to create an account on their website in order to buy a train ticket.
Show threadDatendealerin 🎃☕Aug 24, 2023

@klausfiend What?!? Why?

I bought a bus ticket in Portugal the other day. A bus that probably tourists use frequently. They made me provide an individual tax number. Mine is 123456789 now 🤷‍♀️

Show threadklausfiend has movedAug 24, 2023

@Datendealerin I have absolutely NO clue. I enlisted the help of a friend who's both Portuguese and a web designer, and he would not stop cursing out the site design. It also signed me up automatically for service alerts via email.

The train service itself was perfectly fine, but the barrier to entry was nosy and convoluted and frankly downright weird.

Show threadrugkAug 25, 2023
@klausfiend @Datendealerin someone should send a GDPR complaint about unnecessary data being collected or does the price depend on the number of male children you have🤪
Show threadklausfiend has movedAug 25, 2023
@rugk @Datendealerin Yeah, search me, I thought it was weird as hell but I also had a train to catch. 🙂
Show threadekesAug 24, 2023

@freakonometrics

When you abandon a solution that caused issues in one place but ignore that it worked very well in other essential areas.

Show threadVenty 🇨🇭🫕Aug 24, 2023
@freakonometrics Having been the guy at the counter in the early 1990ies, I can clearly say that even back then some people were too big fucking idiots to buy a ticket. Selling train tickets is almost as sdoing first-level support. After a wewek or two, you lose all hope in mankind and just start to hate people.
Show threadHerzleidAug 24, 2023
@freakonometrics #Alt4You
Ink cartoon. At a train station, the ticket booth has been renamed Info Hub. Next to it an out-of-order ticket machine. The info clerk explains to an elderly lady: "OK, one more time: Go home and log on to our website from your computer, create an account and purchase your ticket with your credit or debit card, download the ticket to a smartphone, then come back at the allocated time… Just what part of 'easier and more convenient' don't you get?"
Show threadJason PattonAug 24, 2023
@freakonometrics @briankrebs very relevant to @TechConnectify's EV charging network complaints
Show threadscholastikaAug 24, 2023
@freakonometrics In German: friss oder stirb.
Show threadv̾i̾t̾r̾i̾o̾l̾i̾x̾Aug 24, 2023
@freakonometrics did you remember to pay the convenience fee?
Show threadOohshiiinyAug 24, 2023
@freakonometrics I tried to respond to their consultation. The only way was via email and there were no instructions and I got no response. I don't think they care
Show threadPeterD 🇩🇪 🇨🇦Aug 24, 2023
@freakonometrics
Exactly - where does one get the money for a smart phone and an Internet connection as a senior? ETC., ETC., ETC.,
Technology is killing us. And I spent 50 years plus in IT.
Show threadBenjamin HallAug 24, 2023
@freakonometrics Accurate and horrible!
Show threadJulian LamAug 24, 2023

@freakonometrics Okay, so I know this comic is in jest, but this is exactly what happened at my local train station. Outside of rush hour, the ticket booths are closed, and they have a staff member walking around directing people to use the automated ticket machine 😬

However, at least the ticket machine dispenses paper tickets on demand.

Show threadStahlbrandtAug 24, 2023
@freakonometrics from where did this originate?
Show thread||| /\ |/ [ []Aug 24, 2023
@freakonometrics Something very similar happens now in Italy when you go to the tax office (Agenzia delle Entrate). I arrived there at 8.30am, no queue at all but the guy did not let me in until I created a ticket on their website from my phone while standing outside their glass door with 40C. I told them it was idiotic since nobody was there before me, but they replied "yes, but somebody COULD arrive now and you have no allocated time". And their time slots are fixed at 10 minutes, regardless of the service complexity.
Show threadHarpAug 24, 2023
@freakonometrics it isn’t really fair on the older less technological generation in the local supermarket today only one manned till I had to show parent how to work the self service till
Show threadAlex GranfordAug 25, 2023
@freakonometrics maybe just make sure ticket machines are working and are easy to use? gather and publish annual stats on how do people _actually_ purchase tickets, and take it from there?
Show threadKevin Karhan Aug 25, 2023
@freakonometrics please add #ImageDescriptions!
Show threadMortSinyxAug 25, 2023

OK, one more time: Go home and log on to our website from your computer, create an account and purchase your ticket with your credit card or debit card, download the ticket to a smartphone, then come back at the allocated time… Just what part of “easier and more convenient” don’t you get?

Show threadeinfachnurRolandAug 25, 2023
@freakonometrics Warum ist der Witz über die #DeutscheBahn auf Englisch?
Show threadWeb SleuthAug 25, 2023
@joat
Show threadbroonAug 25, 2023
@freakonometrics did you nick this person's post?
https://mastodon.social/@bfluzin/110943526854995605
Show threadProjektionsytaAug 25, 2023
@freakonometrics
This is how things work in Swedish train stations, albeit you'd be lucky if there really were a manned info hub, and they would probably just refer you to the "providers of train services".
Show threadMegahertzAug 26, 2023
@freakonometrics AND THOSE DAMN "SERVICE" OR "CONVENIENCE" FEES!