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What services or apps did you see abroad and wonder: why don't we have them?

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Re: What services or apps did you see abroad and wonder: why don't we have them?

#21

Post by bombcar »

tionate wrote: post #20

Old school but all the machines for paying in cash in Japan are so optimized for speed. Train stations, onboard buses, convenience stores. Just throw in a handful of coins and it quickly picks what it needs and returns what it doesn’t. In other countries (eg australia), the ticket machines could only take a single coin at a time and would reject if you did it too fast. I believe this is one (of several) reasons why c…

We have the tech in the USA but it’s only ever used for coin counting machines (which themselves are relatively rare).

Re: What services or apps did you see abroad and wonder: why don't we have them?

#22

Post by bombcar »

If I can go the other way - one thing the USA has that Europe, at least, doesn’t - the ADA.

US businesses are basically all wheelchair accessible - easily, too. Most sidewalks have curb cuts at street crossings. Ramps are commonplace.

This is NOT the cause in Europe, and not only in the historic old buildings.

Even using a stroller is noticeably different; I can’t imagine being in a wheelchair in some cities.

Re: What services or apps did you see abroad and wonder: why don't we have them?

#24

Post by nevon »

jamesdhutton wrote: post #23

In the USA, the postal service picks up outgoing mail from your mailbox. I wish they would do that in the UK.

That's very interesting. How do they know what's outgoing? Do they have to check the address of each letter, or is there like a separate compartment for outgoing mail?

Re: What services or apps did you see abroad and wonder: why don't we have them?

#26

Post by tyleo »

nevon wrote: post #24
jamesdhutton wrote: post #23

In the USA, the postal service picks up outgoing mail from your mailbox. I wish they would do that in the UK.

That's very interesting. How do they know what's outgoing? Do they have to check the address of each letter, or is there like a separate compartment for outgoing mail?

Most mailboxes have a little plastic flag on a hinge you flip up to mark that you have outgoing mail. The process is is generally:

1. Remove all mail from the mailbox

2. Place outgoing mail in the mailbox

3. Raise the outgoing mail flag

4. Carrier will empty the box and file outgoing mail during the next delivery before putting new mail in the box

Edit: here is a good example of a mailbox with that red flag https://www.amazon.com/Step2-541200-MailMaster-Mailbox-Black...

Re: What services or apps did you see abroad and wonder: why don't we have them?

#28

Post by interactivecode »

marcyb5st wrote: post #7
Nextgrid wrote: post #2

The Swiss public transport ticketing system. Their app uses location services to automatically determine your fare, so you don’t need to buy tickets in advance: https://www.sbb.ch/en/travel-information/apps/sbb-mobile/eas... . As a bonus there are no ticket barriers so no queues and no overheads of maintaining those machines.

More than that (which is an amazing feature, don't get me wrong) is the fact that there is a single app for every public transportation system in the country. Compare that to Italy/France/Spain (those that I know) where, depending where you are traveling to, you have to download, sign in, and give your credit card details to N different apps in different states of disrepair/being barely maintained. Virtual credit car…

In The Netherlands you just tap your card when you get in and when you get out. the fare is computed based on how many stops you went. No app needed. Supports all the virtual cards too like apple pay etc...

Re: What services or apps did you see abroad and wonder: why don't we have them?

#29

Post by equinox_nl »

bombcar wrote: post #22

If I can go the other way - one thing the USA has that Europe, at least, doesn’t - the ADA. US businesses are basically all wheelchair accessible - easily, too. Most sidewalks have curb cuts at street crossings. Ramps are commonplace. This is NOT the cause in Europe, and not only in the historic old buildings. Even using a stroller is noticeably different; I can’t imagine being in a wheelchair in some cities.

This depends on where in Europe. From personal experience of a relative (going back 20+ years), the Netherlands is very accessible by wheelchair.

Re: What services or apps did you see abroad and wonder: why don't we have them?

#30

Post by equinox_nl »

tietjens wrote: post #27

Instant free bank transfers by IBAN. In comparison with how tightly-guarded personal email addresses are protected (GDPR, etc.), it's shocking how common it is to freely give out your IBAN.

Not sure if I understand correctly, but are you saying that IBAN leaks personal information?
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