261–270 of 347 posts
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Depending on the place, if you fail to pay it's actually more valuable to them, due to fees.
But what about those people who just choose another parking lot or use public transport instead?
And I'm not sure what country you're in, but in most US cities the competitive threat from public transit can probably be safely ignored.
This story makes me sad and a little angry. The bits that stand out for me are: - The requirement to have a smartphone and mobile data service. - The requirement to run untrusted code (granting whatever "permissions" it demands) on her personal device. I think it's important that necessities and other basic services (including parking) remain equally accessible to everyone, not locked away behind expensive, often bur…
Technically there is no requirement for a mobile app or data. Through PayByPhone you can pay for parking using SMS, by calling (IVR), a web app or mobile apps. But as the author points out, it's hard for the user to know about all the options. That's why I'm personally not a fan of cities that allow more than one vendor. How to advertise all of them on sign posts and stickers (sometimes given different location IDs t…
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> I mean I would think you have a family and just to organize something you would need to communicate, even when you're outside. This seems to come as a shock to much of the HN crowd, but people did in fact manage to organize things before cell phones existed.
There was even a time when people used to get around without driving, and so they didn't have to worry about finding a parking space.
Believe it or not, they still do.
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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.
Man, exactly. We not only have created a complex society on all levels, but now a very difficult world to live, even the most simple events is now a pain in the ass. From restaurants to small markets, you now pay for a robot, you don't have a human to support you. things that were simple, became full of friction, all to collect our data.
I always wonder who comes up with these full of friction "tech innovations".
Last time it took me about five minutes to order a soda from one of those machines in a hotel. It even required a phone number to complete the order.
Another day that machine failed mid transaction but charged my card so I had to email the hotel's accounting department to get a refund about a week later.
I haven't had any trouble with PayByPhone in San Francisco. The ParkMobile app I recall using in Monterey and it was fine too. Reminders around when to top up etc., which is nice but it was fine.
But hey, it could be even worse . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG6KA6V4T7w
A 6 minute video weighting at about 150MiB for "explaining" what can be summarized in a couple sentences of text is another particular version of hell.
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There was even a time when people used to get around without driving, and so they didn't have to worry about finding a parking space.
> people used to get around without driving Believe it or not, they still do.
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There’s a popular swimming around here that’s near a rough neighborhood. One elderly gentleman from that neighborhood guards the cars at the swimming hole. He even got himself a shirt that says “security”. You pay $2 and he makes sure nobody busts the windows out of your car.
Do you think this is blackmail as described by your parent comment, or a genuine (albeit unofficial) offer of protection?
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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.
I'm from a developing country with humongous corruption. I now live in Canada and love it. But to certain degree corruption is just less visible. For example, apparently majority of our towing industry in Toronto is just organized crime. With murders and arson and everything - in the seemingly simple and innocuous towing industry. And when opening a restaurant in downtown, near one of the stadiums, protection money i…
All industries who's generous profits depend on monopolizing a fixed pie, they need to tightly control the amount of competition in order to maintain their profits, so they eventually devolve into a maifa-like organization, regardless if they're blue collar or white collar.
The only difference is the blue-collar mafia is way more visible as they solve their difference with valence, while the white-collar mafia doesn't need to resort to barbaric acts but simply lobbies their political friends in power to put enough laws and regulations in place to stop any newcomers entering their turf.
If only the towing industry could have taken a page out of Canada's telcos' book and lobby their way.
Just an observation, parking, self checkout, payment terminals, etc are examples where the general public is forced to interact with "enterprise" style software, as in software that's not bought by users and so ignores their needs and prioritizes what business buyers want. Anyone who works with such software at work (like SAP) knows it's UX is garbage and it's not for them. But now the same model is being foisted on…
Have you been to a Uniqlo lately? Actually good self checkout. You just dump your clothes in a bin and it scans everything. Like black magic compared to typical self checkout systems. Edit: system described here- https://www.chargedretail.co.uk/2022/08/26/4-stand-out-examp...