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Sweden's cashless society is no longer a utopia

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Re: Sweden's cashless society is no longer a utopia

#551

Post by picsao »

eksemplar wrote: post #123
kristofferR wrote: post #97

I'm a Norwegian who went to a Swedish music festival last summer. I couldn't pay for a lot of things there, since the booths only accepted Swish (the only relevant Swedish mobile payment solution, it's a de facto monopoly). I couldn't sign up and use Swish on my phone, since it only accepts Swedish bank accounts. I couldn't borrow money from my Swedish friends either, since they didn't have cash (and it mostly wasn't…

That’s festival payment done wrong, but cashless can be really great at festivals. In Denmark we have a festival called Skanderborg festival, and they build both your ticket and your cashless payment into the festival bracelet. You use the bracelet to pay everywhere, and you can add money to it a range of payment methods, from using a visa or similar in their app, to visiting one of the cash places where you can use…

This sounds like a real life attempt on in game money - which is designed to allow a more mindless spending. Great if you are rich, and a nice little exploit if you are poor.

Re: Sweden's cashless society is no longer a utopia

#552

Post by mort96 »

chii wrote: post #349
mort96 wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If only there was some sort of peer-to-peer version of electronic cash that would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution, yet had some recourse for fraudulent transactions, didn't require downloading hundreds of gigabytes of blockchain, processed more than a handful of transactions globally per ten minutes, and where you didn't lose all your m…

> without going through a financial institution, yet had some recourse for fraudulent transactions a contradiction right there. Security/freedom is a trade-off, and bitcoin has traded away some security for some freedom. Some people like that freedom, but some don't.

Yeah, it's a contradiction; I didn't mean to say that all the things I listed are possible. Not wanting to download hundreds of gigabytes of blockchain is also a contradiction; the only solution I know of is to use a light wallet, and then you're suddenly relying on someone else's service instead of just relying on the decentralized network.

Re: Sweden's cashless society is no longer a utopia

#553

Post by random_kris »

eksemplar wrote: post #123
kristofferR wrote: post #97

I'm a Norwegian who went to a Swedish music festival last summer. I couldn't pay for a lot of things there, since the booths only accepted Swish (the only relevant Swedish mobile payment solution, it's a de facto monopoly). I couldn't sign up and use Swish on my phone, since it only accepts Swedish bank accounts. I couldn't borrow money from my Swedish friends either, since they didn't have cash (and it mostly wasn't…

That’s festival payment done wrong, but cashless can be really great at festivals. In Denmark we have a festival called Skanderborg festival, and they build both your ticket and your cashless payment into the festival bracelet. You use the bracelet to pay everywhere, and you can add money to it a range of payment methods, from using a visa or similar in their app, to visiting one of the cash places where you can use…

Yeah I agree. Was at sziget this summer and we could pay using our bank cards NFC and you don't have to input pin for payments under 15€. Also we could pay with festival's bracelet. This is THE BEST expirience. Easy for staff and for customers

Re: Sweden's cashless society is no longer a utopia

#554

Post by sebiol »

illumin8 wrote: post #195
reaperducer wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Denmark we have a festival called Skanderborg festival, and they build both your ticket and your cashless payment into the festival bracelet. Disney does that at Disneyland and Disney World in America: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/plan/my-disney-experience/... You can also use it to unlock you hotel room and to link to those photographs that are taken of you when you're on the rides.

The main difference being that Disney has multiple backup systems, including switching to a completely manual process in case their network or servers are offline. I watched a presentation on this, and it's actually very interesting how they manage the ride experience so that even during a system outage they can still let people get on the rides.

Is this presentation available online? I'd be very interested in watching it too.

Re: Sweden's cashless society is no longer a utopia

#555

Post by throwaway487548 »

This is a common pattern - a bunch of disconnected from reality (literally, inside academical enclaves and mentally, living in a world of pure abstractions and ideas) pundits are advocating to destroy (or "reform") a vastly complex systems they do not fully comprehend, leave alone understood. Their abstract memes spread like viruses through naive minds of unthinking (or at least not thinking critically) people, and eventually society become literally sick with this or that nonsense.

This very pattern was behind marxism and all its tragic consequences. Exactly this pattern.

If you like a more recent example - look no farther than the crypto buble, based solely on memes and nothing but memes (well, very clever memes, indeed).

Cash plays a fundamental role in any society - it is means of anonymous, untraceable, quick payments. Any healthy economy needs this kind of transactions. It is literally what we mean by "liquidity" - like a flow of red blood cells through the whole system. Do not mess with it.

The pundits would argue that cash payments could be abused. Well, kitchen knives (even forks!) could be abused too. Shall we advocate a kitchenless society?

Other countries have tried to mess with cash (India recently - thank god they kept small notes in circulation) and the result was disastrous. Again, some disconnected from reality abstract ideas were used to justify the move.

What I am trying to say, is that this is the common cancer and the name of it is Liberal Arts "education", "humanities" and "academia". These people should not be allowed to govern because their minds are distorted with nonsense they have "studied" (memorized). Think of marxists or hegelians or platonists.

Sweden, unfortunately, has been ruled by platonists and hegelians, if not marxists, for last few decades. The results are... well, read the news.

Re: Sweden's cashless society is no longer a utopia

#556

Post by Already__Taken »

clubm8 wrote: post #281
sethhochberg wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You create a pin when you activate your card/wristband after walking in, yeah. At the Mirage, tips work just like a credit card transaction would - the bartender has an iPad sitting in front of them and you choose preset options or enter a custom one. Typically you place your order with the bartender, they'll ring it all up on the terminal, and by the time you've finished tapping your wristband on the reader and choo…

> You create a pin when you activate your card/wristband after walking in, yeah. I wonder how many make theirs 1234

Better than making it the same pin that your card is at least

Re: Sweden's cashless society is no longer a utopia

#557

Post by MrTonyD »

We need control over those who control our credit. As I read this article I've just arrived in London - my 4th trip here in as many months. And CapitalOne has started declining my charges again - even though I'm staying at the same hotel with the exact same charges as always. I have about $20,000 in credit with a zero balance, but that doesn't seem to matter either. I tried calling them before the trip - and was told that they don't need advance notice of trips. (I guess their fraud protection is so good - they just stop accepting charges.) And of course they only accept calls to resolve the issue - and on these international trips I usually don't have easy access to a phone. We are essentially prisoners of these credit card companies.

Re: Sweden's cashless society is no longer a utopia

#558

Post by dual_basis »

speedplane wrote: post #548
gsich wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can already see that manufacturers have a hard time to come up with new features. Stuff like thinner devices (nobody cares or wants this to a certain degree, compared to a better battery life), 3+ cameras, notches because for some reason you can't integrate speakers behind the display. "AI" stuff that doesn't work when you're offline. I would trade all this shit for a week battery time. So yes, while smartphones…

The problem with prolonging long battery life, is that most people don’t care. They are told what to buy from flashy ads and multimillion marketing budgets. Keeping the battery week keeps you tethered to your desk and requires you to think about every night b for bend)did I plug in my phone?) Low battery drives usage. If you had a large weeklong battery, you might put your phone down every now and again without looki…

The reason we don't have week long battery life is because it is difficult to do, not to keep eyes on screens. Most companies are actively working on longer battery life.

Re: Sweden's cashless society is no longer a utopia

#559

Post by bamboozled »

scurvy wrote: post #420
bamboozled wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best payment experience I’ve had is cash. I pay for what I need and when I leave the festival I can still use my “credits” hassle free anywhere I like.

Counterpoint, the best place to spend counterfeit money is a music festival....and then it gets passed down to you. I've picked up a half dozen counterfeits at music festivals. Sucks if you're not really paying attention.

Maybe a problem for you, never had that experience, nor do I know a single person who had that happen. I have many friends who go to festivals.

Re: Sweden's cashless society is no longer a utopia

#560

Post by NeedMoreTea »

ryanlol wrote: post #543
NeedMoreTea wrote: post #516

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do they? I inhabit a very different bubble then as I've only heard complaints amongst my friends and workmates lately. Even formerly enthusiastic ones. It reminds me of the 80s ghetto blasters fad. Size was the thing. As they got ever bigger they got far worse as there was so much resonant empty plastic and they distorted and rattled madly with volume anywhere over 2. Size and LEDs counted above all. Sound? LOL look…

>Even if I detest all the offerings as too big for any pocket I possess. What do you wear?

Err, just regular guy stuff. Nothing weird.

My current SE fits my biking gear pockets without fiddling, my previous Android was a bit fiddly. The one before that (my one attempt at a larger phone) fit properly in nothing I own except my winter coats. It had to live in my rucksack, so got left at home a lot, and on the desk through lunch breaks. No surprise that it wasn't many months before I Ebayed it and bought something sensible. :p

Anything bigger than the SE would sometimes fall out of my spring/autumn weight jackets if I just bent over or sat. All except SE got too big for comfort in back pocket of jeans any more. Especially as they get so thin and large as to be asking for a bent or broken phone.

I don't think that's so unusual? It's my other half who's pocket limited. :)

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