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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

#601

Post by kadendogthing »

gsich wrote: post #502
kadendogthing wrote: post #473

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>nobody cares or wants this to a certain degree, compared to a better battery life Then why do consumers constantly praise thinner phones, and continue to purchase them? I think you're mistaking what you want and consider a good choice compared to what everyone else actually wants and is willing to support.

Because there is no alternative. It's not legit to say "people like thin smartphones more" when you are only making thin ones. Same for the headphone jack.

There are plenty of alternatives? In what market are there no alternatives to thin phones?

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

#602

Post by kadendogthing »

geezerjay wrote: post #513
kadendogthing wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? I think the smart phones we have are pretty brilliant and functional.

Noot being able to upgrade the OS is a glaring design problem, so there's still work to be done.

I upgrade my OS all the time.

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

#603

Post by kadendogthing »

Hextinium wrote: post #501
kadendogthing wrote: post #473

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>nobody cares or wants this to a certain degree, compared to a better battery life Then why do consumers constantly praise thinner phones, and continue to purchase them? I think you're mistaking what you want and consider a good choice compared to what everyone else actually wants and is willing to support.

The purchasing of the new best thing can also be the case, take for example that there hasn't been a flagship phone that actually fits in most peoples single hand since the SE and yet I know lots of people that will just "buy the next Iphone" because thats what they have done for 5 years with no consideration for ergonomics.

>take for example that there hasn't been a flagship phone that actually fits in most peoples single hand since the SE

Both my iPhone and Pixel 3 fit my hand. I'm 5'6.

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

#604

Post by djdjdndhx »

james_s_tayler wrote: post #418
djdjdndhx wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm, keep $200-600 of quickly depreciating assets whose creation is a sin against our children’s enviroment when I can have five crisp linen Benjamins at home? And do the same for car. And the hotel room when you are travelling. Doesn’t seem too logical.

You know I already have a spare phone at home. Cost me nothing technically since when I upgraded I just kept it instead of throwing it out. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Y'all bitch it's ridiculous (and I ain't saying it's right or that I agree with the premise of having to do it in the first place), I'm just saying thats what people will do faced with the situation.

So you’re in Puerto Rico and the hurricane hits.

No cell phone towers for a week.

No electricity for months.

What do you do now? Pawn your backup iPhone X for $30?

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

#606

Post by djdjdndhx »

flurdy wrote: post #272
djdjdndhx wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have $200 in a variety of denominations in my glove box. I have $2 000 cash at home. Once I’m home I can write myself a cheque, and with my passport, easily withdrawal more money at any bank (or grocery store). Also, if a natural disaster happens (earthquake, fire, flood, hurricane, Norsemen with iPhones disembark on our shores) I don’t have to rely on any network to buy something. I just pay cash, or write a chequ…

I don't. Perhaps mostly as I live in a different country. I do have a £5 or 20 note as an emergency money in my bag and £20-40 in some drawers at home. E.g. to buy lunch if I come across a food stall that doesn't accept card payments. Rarer and rarer is it needed in the UK, and when I lived in Norway it was months between each time I needed cash. I do however have spare debit/credit cards at home and my bag as well i…

A society that stops accepting cash is fragile - it relies on sophisticated networks few people understand that required a lot of maintenance.

Physical money is literally prehistoric - quite robust.

And consider:

In EU, just a few years ago, the Greek citizenry realized that “their” money was being held hostage in EU negotiations.[1] The Greeks were forbidden from withdrawing their funds (or using them for that matter)

Mind you, the Greek govt debt is the govt debt, not their personal debt.

Your country, not 30 years ago, was brought to its financial knees single handeldly by Soros (the man who broke the Bank of England). [2]

Now, facing Brexit and the potential poop storm it may end up being, you’re OK having 20 quid in your pocket?

I grew up in a third world country. For me, this naïveté is real privilege! [3]

[1] this is what power is willing to do to defend finance

[2] the UK is hardly immune.

[3] sorry for the word naive, but it really seems that way to anyone who lived through a country colapse.

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

#607

Post by gigatexal »

jnurmine wrote: post #572
gigatexal wrote: post #529

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The locked down nature of Swish and it’s monopoly status is worrisome. I was thinking there was just a ton of NFC readable payment devices that could accept any form of contactless payment like Apple Pay or Alipay or Google Pay etc... this is definitely not a good sign. Regarding the article saying that if central banks become irrelevant due to cash going fully out of favor: that’s such BS. Deposits would just become…

Why is Swish worrying you? It is basically a payment overlay on top of whatever technology runs in the mobile devices. If tomorrow the dominant mobile OS is Foobar, there will be Swish for it and things just keep on working. It is not tied to a US or Chinese megacorporation, so there is no risk of geopolitically-influenced political decisions ruining the show, like those threatening SWIFT, for example. Swish works ju…

I was assuming the OP had some sort of contactless payment ability on their mobile phone. But since they had difficulty in using it especially because the platform seemingly forces a new user to have a Swedish bank that’s a huge barrier to entry.

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

#608

Post by baud147258 »

dmitriy_ko wrote: post #433
Aeolun wrote: post #377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it does, you go to the bank and get more cash. If your card gets stolen however, you go to the bank, fill out a ton of forms, pay a fee for losing your card. Wait a few days for your new card to be delivered in the mail. And then, finally can you pay again. In the meanwhile, you are forced to pay with... cash! Which nobody accepts, because not having a debit card is socially unacceptable in our society.

I lost cards many times. Never been asked to pay a fee to get new card. No forms to fill out either. You just call them, tell them you need new card and they send it.

Last time I had to ask for a new card, I had to wait for one month, I was happy to be have family members lending me cash.

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

#609

Post by kraftomatic »

Lio wrote: post #503
felipemnoa wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've noticed this with mature technology. There comes a point where a product is perfect, no need to add anymore features. But the manufacturer still wants to continue adding new features so that they can use those as new selling points. Unfortunately the new features end up making the product worse.

You mean like an electric toothbrush with Bluetooth? I’d love to have been in the design meeting where thry decided that was more important than world voltage compatibility. “World voltage are you mad? Who packs a toothbrush when they go travelling? Nope, what the people are clamering for is bluetooth support!”

My toothbrush has a usb charger which I just use for travelling. Actually really handy as its just a cord so much smaller than a regular charger.

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

#610

Post by thaumasiotes »

TulliusCicero wrote: post #511
vaylian wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who lives in Germany I find this surprising. Yes, people expect you to have bills of the right size. But coins? Never encountered that. Cashless is more convenient. But given how fundamental money is in our society, I would never be fine with a centralized system that controls all payments. That is simply too much power in one place. I know HN is more about startup-hackers than FOSS-hackers, but I am prett…

> coins? Never encountered that. Yes, sometimes cashiers ask if I have certain coins to make giving change easier. Also you need coins for shopping carts.

> Yes, sometimes cashiers ask if I have certain coins to make giving change easier.

You would have encountered the identical behavior in the bay area if you'd paid for things in cash. That's not because the cashier expects you to have the coins; it's an extra effort on their part to make things more convenient for you.

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