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How do we pay for parking?

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Re: How do we pay for parking?

#21

Post by ocdtrekkie »

burcs wrote: post #5

Modern parking lots always seem ripe for physical phishing, whats stopping someone from sticking up a couple of QR codes that link to a fraudulent payment page or some other malware? This is one of those things that tech really didn't "fix" and now I have to select from one of 20 apps instead of just paying with cash or even a credit card.

This is a well-known problem at more than just parking lots. Any proprietor using QR codes in their place of business should generally be policing the property for rogue stickers. Obviously, quality of the business matters here a lot for that.

Re: How do we pay for parking?

#22

Post by jonahbenton »

Agree. It is a serious problem when actual stuff in the world is based on shitty hell software- when the only way to do the stuff in the world is to enter into the shitty hell software world. Then it is exactly living in hell.

Re: How do we pay for parking?

#23

Post by thechao »

burcs wrote: post #5

Modern parking lots always seem ripe for physical phishing, whats stopping someone from sticking up a couple of QR codes that link to a fraudulent payment page or some other malware? This is one of those things that tech really didn't "fix" and now I have to select from one of 20 apps instead of just paying with cash or even a credit card.

I have, on multiple occasions (in Austin, >10 years ago), paid for parking to an "attendant" at a lot I know is free. Those guys will just have your car towed — the whole scam just hangs together: the towing company charges you for the storage & processing, but not the nominal fee; the attendant gets cash. Win-win-lose.

Re: How do we pay for parking?

#24

Post by jeremy_wiebe »

My personal pet peeve is lots that show you the apps you can pay for parking with, but then make it extremely difficult to find the lot ID.

Pay-for parking feels like the kind of thing that should become a utility with one, easy, well-known way to pay for parking anywhere.

Re: How do we pay for parking?

#25

Post by version_five »

happytoexplain wrote: post #14
rvnx wrote: post #8

If you want to get to the point of the story, +/- summary : An old lady in Seattle couldn't understand how to pay for parking using confusing parking apps. The author helped her, but the process was complicated and not user-friendly. He guided her through scanning a QR code and using parking apps, eventually helping her pay with the Park Mobile app using her credit card.

The tone of your oversimplification sounds like you have something against the author's opinion, which, if true, would be much better stated than sarcastically implied. Edit: The parent has been edited since I commented.

It's what the guidelines call a "shallow dismissal".

Re: How do we pay for parking?

#26

Post by [deleted] »

rvnx wrote: post #8

If you want to get to the point of the story, +/- summary : An old lady in Seattle couldn't understand how to pay for parking using confusing parking apps. The author helped her, but the process was complicated and not user-friendly. He guided her through scanning a QR code and using parking apps, eventually helping her pay with the Park Mobile app using her credit card.

[deleted]

Re: How do we pay for parking?

#28

Post by scandox »

rvnx wrote: post #8

If you want to get to the point of the story, +/- summary : An old lady in Seattle couldn't understand how to pay for parking using confusing parking apps. The author helped her, but the process was complicated and not user-friendly. He guided her through scanning a QR code and using parking apps, eventually helping her pay with the Park Mobile app using her credit card.

I read the original with interest because it describes very well the absurdly crap systems the world has become infested with and which many of us on this site have become complicit in making.

People are spending vast amounts of time fiddling with shit that doesn't work.

Re: How do we pay for parking?

#30

Post by jakear »

seattle, of all places, should legislate that software built on public money must be publicly available and open for public contributions (with appropriate vetting ofc).

literal thousands of engineers could do better, but may not, and are instead subjected to the profiteers.

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