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81yo Dodgers fan can no longer get tickets because he doesn't have a smartphone

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Re: 81yo Dodgers fan can no longer get tickets because he doesn't have a smartphone

#471
post #467

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the sake of simplicity, let's assume the ticket is exactly $2500. It was earlier given that he has enough to buy it. But if he buys the $40 smartphone first, then he only has $2460, which is less than $2500. Now he no longer has enough to buy the ticket. He can afford the ticket, or the smartphone, but not both. If not debt, where do you imagine the shortfall is going to be made up in order to buy both? Theft? Do…

And do you think he would not buy the season ticket if it were $40 more? When it goes up by $40 next year?

> And do you think he would not buy the season ticket if it were $40 more?

That is the implication in the link: That he will not be able to buy season tickets this year due to them costing $40 more than he anticipated.

But if you are trying to suggest that he has bought the tickets already, then what on earth are we talking about?

Re: 81yo Dodgers fan can no longer get tickets because he doesn't have a smartphone

#472
post #93

My 75-year-old, retired construction worker dad’s fingers are nearly useless on capacitive screens; half a century of handling cement apparently has that effect. His deep East Texas accent was still only semi comprehensible to Siri the last time I had him try with my phone. He recently missed several notifications from his truck’s dealership that the part they ordered was in and ready for installation, because they s…

> I’m terrified that there’s going to be a doctor’s office sometime that does the same, with more serious consequences.

they can send scheduling info, appt reminders, etc via SMS but (1) they must allow opt out, and (2) they cannot send medical info this way — that's where HIPAA requires encrypted "patient portal" messaging because SMS can be intercepted or accessed by others.

Re: 81yo Dodgers fan can no longer get tickets because he doesn't have a smartphone

#474
post #471

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And do you think he would not buy the season ticket if it were $40 more? When it goes up by $40 next year?

> And do you think he would not buy the season ticket if it were $40 more? That is the implication in the link: That he will not be able to buy season tickets this year due to them costing $40 more than he anticipated. But if you are trying to suggest that he has bought the tickets already, then what on earth are we talking about?

The link has no such implication. It just says he doesn’t have a smart phone. Even if he survives solely off of social security, his COLA adjustment will be more than $40 a year

Re: 81yo Dodgers fan can no longer get tickets because he doesn't have a smartphone

#475

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If this guy has the money for a season pass (!) he has the money for a smartphone. Maybe it's not about the money. Maybe he does not want the negative consequences that come along with having a smartphone. Maybe he has dexterity issues that make using a smartphone difficult. Maybe he doesn't want to install their invasive app. Maybe he finds that paper tickets are easier to manage. Maybe he recognizes that the vend…

He can get a smartphone dedicated to the ticket app if it is such a huge piece of his life/hobby

Is the app accessible though?

I have a friend who is legally blind. He has the font size turned up several notches on his phone so he can just about see it with a huge magnifier on his remaining eye. A majority of the apps on his phone are absolutely not designed for increased font size and are a nightmare to navigate.

Re: 81yo Dodgers fan can no longer get tickets because he doesn't have a smartphone

#476
post #435

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I could name a bunch if I spent 30 seconds looking. I could probably name half a dozen others - including names most people would recognise, e.g julian assange - who I think (but am not 100% sure from memory) suffered similar restrictions without even searching. I happened to name Mitnick because of the "national security" example. I noticed that you haven't given any reasoning as to why a receptionist working at a h…

"I'm banned from using smartphones by court order" is perfectly reasonable and not at all outlandish if you're a sex offender. "I'm banned from using smartphones because I'm a hazard to national security" is not reasonable. it's crazy. like, who the hell asked? are you saying that if you manage to get your hands on an iPhone the state would be in danger? are you bragging? trying to impress me? i've never heard anyone…

  > are you bragging? trying to impress me?
Yes and yes! That is, indeed, exactly what a person who is part of that culture would likely do. For example Tsutomu Shimomura is hilariously famous for it - the book he wrote about capturing Mitnick is a great example. And part of the reason Mitnick's restrictions were so absurd was that he liked to make grandiose and outlandish claims, and they were believed. All those guys LOVED to toot their own horn, and never let the truth get in the way of a good story. I think it only really stopped being a thing because people started going to jail and their silly claims were used against them in that process.

I noticed that in your simulated internal monologue you didn't actually mention not believing that it was true at any point. It's certainly far more plausible than your "i don't have a phone because aliens took it".

I also noticed that you still haven't given any rationale as to why said receptionist would need to consider it common for it to be valid. Maybe you forgot.

I think that in reality, your internal monologue is incorrect. I think your average hospital receptionist would effectively stop listening/caring after "I don't have a smartphone", and just get on with her work without thinking about it much at all, because she's too busy to bother with it and doesn't actually care very much at all why you don't have a smartphone. Hospital receptionists are busy people and they deal with all kinds of crazy shit.

Re: 81yo Dodgers fan can no longer get tickets because he doesn't have a smartphone

#477

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Protip: always use plus aliases when signing up for things like this. Use a unique plus alias for everything you sign up for (the convention I use is e.g myemail+yourcompanyname@mydomain.com). This convention lets you be sure exactly who sold your info when the spam comes, based on the to address, and it also lets you easily block email from that source after you've got your tickets. The only downsides are that somet…

>Protip: always use plus aliases when signing up for things like this. Use a unique plus alias for everything you sign up for (the convention I use is e.g myemail+yourcompanyname@mydomain.com). This convention lets you be sure exactly who sold your info when the spam comes, based on the to address, and it also lets you easily block email from that source after you've got your tickets. I don't use "plus aliases." I do…

So in other words you could have easily blocked the spam emails you were complaining about after the first one arrived.

Regular aliases are fine, but they're more difficult to set up. And don't work everywhere.

I do host my own email. But not everybody has the knowledge/inclination to do so. Which is fine if that's their choice. Plus aliases work for those people too.

Re: 81yo Dodgers fan can no longer get tickets because he doesn't have a smartphone

#478

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if he doesn't agree to google/apple's terms of service?

Then he can't buy the tickets. People aren't born with a god-given right to get seasons tickets to Dodger's games. There are businesses that choose not to handle cash and only accept credit or debit payments. I need to agree to a credit card companies terms and conditions for that too. Is that unreasonable?

Yes. Businesses should have to accept cash.

Re: 81yo Dodgers fan can no longer get tickets because he doesn't have a smartphone

#479
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This one is viewable

Posted 9 minutes before your comment... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47662987

If I can read the wall street journal without paying for it, you can see a tweet without a login....

Re: 81yo Dodgers fan can no longer get tickets because he doesn't have a smartphone

#480
post #471

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And do you think he would not buy the season ticket if it were $40 more? That is the implication in the link: That he will not be able to buy season tickets this year due to them costing $40 more than he anticipated. But if you are trying to suggest that he has bought the tickets already, then what on earth are we talking about?

The link has no such implication. It just says he doesn’t have a smart phone. Even if he survives solely off of social security, his COLA adjustment will be more than $40 a year

It says he cannot get tickets because, as we established, he needs to spend $40 more over the price of the ticket in order to facilitate the transaction.

So, either:

1. He cannot get tickets because the cost of the ticket plus $40 exceeds his budget.

2. He can get tickets because $40 more is no big deal.

The link asserting that he cannot get tickets implies #1. If he can get tickets then what are we even talking about?

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