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There may be a steep privacy cost if you park here

latimes.com

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Re: There may be a steep privacy cost if you park here

#161

Post by seoulmetro »

pengaru wrote: post #63
gruez wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>So... for some old timer who pulls up without a smartphone they'll turn them away? yeah? AFAIK if you want to shop at an amazon go store, you need mobile app and a registered amazon account. We're also getting there at other places because some establishments/jurisdictions are requiring proof of vaccination (ie. signed QR code).

I fully expect more cities to prohibit retail establishments from refusing cash within their jurisdictions. There's precedent for it already, on grounds of discriminating against the poor.

It's not discrimination against the poor. It's ignorance in the face of the poor.

Re: There may be a steep privacy cost if you park here

#162

Post by SteveGerencser »

jandrese wrote: post #76

One of my local shopping complexes had their landlord add tolls to the previously free parking. It was all done via an incredibly shitty app that required you to set up an account and link a credit card to pay. It was slow, hard to use, and crashed a couple of times on me while I was trying to set up the account forcing me to start from scratch. They also had kiosks, but they were not working. I used to go to that sh…

You just described nearly every parking lot in downtown Nashville.

Not to be outdone, they've taken it to a new level where three different companies own the same lot and you can only tell which company owns the lot by looking to see what color lines you are parked in. Park in the lot, but pay at the wrong kiosk or use the wrong app, you get an extra $50 boot added to your car.

Re: There may be a steep privacy cost if you park here

#164

Post by nitwit005 »

01100011 wrote: post #30
unicornporn wrote: post #13

Oh, great timing. Just ended a conversation with some friends who had bought a dishwasher. The display for these new machines had been removed, so the only way to tell when the machine was really finished was to... Guess what? Download an app! I suppose I don't need to tell you all the permissions it asked for...

Personally I think I prefer devices which offload the UI to a smartphone. I was thinking of something like this years ago where you could use something like Bluetooth to push a web UI so devices like thermostats would no longer need to have a shitty UI for things like programming schedules. Unfortunately in this case the greed of the manufacturer hoping to monetize their UI has ruined an otherwise decent idea(althoug…

It's innevitable it will ho wrong though. Apple or Google bans the app, millions of dollars of hardware bricked.

Re: There may be a steep privacy cost if you park here

#165

Post by Eelongate »

throwaway55421 wrote: post #136
_nalply wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really, it's more the bad execution that killed the goose. Only misers would object to a small fee for parking. It's the hassle of paying that keeps people away. Where I live all shopping centers in the town have the same fees for parking, CHF 1 for the first hour then CHF ½ for every half hour. You can pay with an app, for example https://easypark.ch , or by cash at a central parking meter by the entrance which…

In a lot (most?) of the US most places are far enough away from each other that using a shop's car park as somewhere to leave your car (e.g. while commuting) does not happen. There is also no viable public transport. Charging for parking, then, is nonsensical. It's a cost imposed on your business just like the rent. You could try to recover your rent/land costs by charging a flat fee for people to enter your shop on…

> In a lot (most?) of the US most places are far enough away [...]

I've never seen a grocery store with a parking garage (opposed to a parking lot) that wasn't in a city. If the grocery store has a parking garage instead of a parking lot, then it is almost certainly in an urban area and public transit and is within walking distance of many residences and businesses.

This is in fact the case for the particular Trader Joe's in question. Look up "Trader Joes’s at Hollywood and Vine". That neighborhood is easily walkable, has at least some public transit, and their parking garage is within easy walking distance of numerous other businesses.

Re: There may be a steep privacy cost if you park here

#166

Post by lotsofpulp »

novok wrote: post #129
lotsofpulp wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you own property, does that really protect you? Land records are public, and you can just use a website like http://searchpeoplefree.com/

You own the property via a pass through single owner LLC to retain the $250k cap gains exemption. Still is a massive annoyance and complication to do so although, and mortgages are harder.

Are those not searchable on https://www.bizapedia.com/?

Re: There may be a steep privacy cost if you park here

#167

Post by Eelongate »

akudha wrote: post #44
the_snooze wrote: post #16

I hate tech like this. It ostensibly offers some minor convenience for the end-user, but it's really just a big data grab for whatever company implemented it. A few years ago, I went to a local Shake Shack and found they replaced their cashiers with kiosks. But placing an order requires me to give them my phone number, supposedly so they can text me when my order was ready. This should have been a very simple transac…

Years ago, I was at a huge electronics store in NYC. I wanted to buy something small, maybe 30 bucks worth. The cashier won’t bill unless I gave him my phone number. I asked him why he needs my number, he said “in case you return the item”. I told him he needs the receipt, not phone number, while returning items. He didn’t budge. I didn’t want to cause a scene, so I left without purchasing. It is not just collecting…

"My name is Jenny, and my number is 867-5309"

Re: There may be a steep privacy cost if you park here

#168

Post by prepend »

chana_masala wrote: post #135
prepend wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My number is always 212-867-5309. And it works great for returns. Comically, it seems many others use this as I frequently find loyalty points already there. I’d like to find the club of likeminded folks. Sadly more places are requiring validation.

Is the number arbitrary or a reason you chose it?

Below links to the song. It is arbitrary I suppose as it could be any number that the songwriter worked into the lyrics.

It’s also funny when telemarketers from other countries aren’t familiar and accept it as a real number.

Re: There may be a steep privacy cost if you park here

#169

Post by djbusby »

throwaway55421 wrote: post #147
jdavis703 wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cost of “free” parking is added to the prices the store charges. It’s better to unbundle these costs — an urban parking space can cost over $50,000 to build. That’s not cheap, and will materially impact rents and the price consumers have to pay.

The cost of the rent is also added to prices the store charges. The rent close to a metro station is far higher and often "local" stores are much more expensive as a result. You could attempt to unbundle that by charging people an entry fee too. Why not itemise the electricity bill whilst you're at it, etc. It's penny pinching and adds friction. I've been to Trader Joe's, if you're going there you're not at all price…

Cars left over 24h will be charged $$/day

Re: There may be a steep privacy cost if you park here

#170

Post by djbusby »

Eelongate wrote: post #159
CircleSpokes wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it better to unbundle them? I don't see why a business or person would want the extra hassle of paying for parking separately. Like paying for event parking is one thing but paying to shop at a store is beyond silly. What is next paying to use the drive through?

> Why is it better to unbundle them? Better... for who? I don't know if it's better for either business or society, but it's better for me because I walk to the grocery store and never take my car. If the price of parking is unbundled from the price of food, then I don't have to pay for something I'm not using.

You hardly do anyway - these costs are aggregated in with existing costs (labor being the largest) across 1000s of products and 10000s of transactions.
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