Will smartphone ownership become a de facto requirement?

[hbelkins]

In the discussion on international travel in the Chicagoland meet thread, I posited a question that the moderators apparently deleted.

I think it's a germane discussion in general and one worthy of having on a high level.

In that thread, someone mentioned needing some kind of electronic proof of vaccination. One day last week, I saw a news story that was accompanied by a photo of some sort of device scanning something on a smartphone in Europe for proof of vaccination[/size].

So my question was; are we getting to a point where owning a smartphone is going to become a requirement to participate in society?

There are some on this board who have said they still use flip phones or other kinds of "dumb phones," and we all probably know someone who doesn't even own a cellphone of any kind.

Will some of the various vaccine requirements end up in everyone having to buy a smartphone and maintain a data plan to live?

This is going to be a windfall for Apple, Motorola, Samsung, Verizon, AT&T, and other wireless carriers and device manufacturers if so. Makes one wonder if they haven't been lobbying for these mandates.

This isn't meant to be another COVID thread. It's meant to be a discussion on what may become a de facto requirement to own a specific type of device or subscribe to a specific service. As late as 1995, I knew someone (worked with them, in fact) who did not have a landline phone. If you wanted to get in touch with them, you either sent them a letter or you went to see them.

Remember the commercial where everyone is paying with plastic and someone paying with cash gums up the works? Are we heading toward something like that?

[TheHighwayMan3561]

A lot of sports and entertainment venues have moved to using digital ticketing only since reopening, with the physical traditional or paper print-at-home tickets no longer allowed. I had moved to using digital tickets for baseball games for the last 3-4 years when it became an option with the Ballpark App so it wasn't an adjustment for me, but given baseball's older fan demographics I wondered if this would pose issues.

[Max Rockatansky]

I hope not because I don't bring my phone with me a lot of places so I can't be easily reached by people that work for me.  Additionally I'm not a huge fan of learning new things with tech related items.  I'm finding myself increasingly indifferent to evolving technology as time goes on.

[CoreySamson]

It sure seems like society is heading that way. I sure hope it doesn't become like how credit cards are putting cash out of business (figuratively). You see, I don't like credit cards very much. I don't trust myself enough to pay the credit card bill on time every month when I go off to college (not that I can't discipline myself to do it), so I would rather just pay with cash, checks, or maybe even a debit card so I don't fall into credit card debt. The problem with that is that someday if I buy a house when I'm older, I'll have to provide a credit score so I can apply for a good loan rate. But if I don't have a credit score because I'm not using a credit card, then I'm going to get cheated of a good rate (even if I'm responsible borrowing money outside of credit cards) because I don't have a credit score. Correct me if I'm wrong about this.

Essentially owning a credit card has become so ingrained in our society that not owning one puts you at a disadvantage. For example, some Chick-Fil-A's have gone cashless, meaning if you don't have a credit card, you won't be able to pay for a meal there. Walmart's recently been phasing out traditional registers in favor of self-checkout lanes that only accept credit cards, so if you're paying with cash, then you'll have to suffer through either a longer line at the manned checkout or maybe not even being able to pay at all (I've heard at night Walmarts now don't have anyone manning the registers).

I see a similar thing eventually happening with smartphones. If you don't have one because you don't like the negative aspects of it, then you'll get left behind and will probably end up acquiescing to the idea of a smartphone anyway because you're at a disadvantage. For example, Disney World is ditching their Fastpass system to skip the standby lines in favor of a new system using an app. That's not saying I don't like the idea of a smartphone, as it replaces so many other appliances (I probably will never buy a TV or a traditional camera because a smartphone can also do those things), but I still think there should be an alternate option.

[abefroman329]

A lot of sports and entertainment venues have moved to using digital ticketing only since reopening, with the physical traditional or paper print-at-home tickets no longer allowed. I had moved to using digital tickets for baseball games for the last 3-4 years when it became an option with the Ballpark App so it wasn't an adjustment for me, but given baseball's older fan demographics I wondered if this would pose issues.

This is a good point - I looked on the Guaranteed Rate Field website and found this:

Any fan having issues with his/her telephone or does not have a smartphone should be directed to any open ticket window for assistance.

So you're not completely SOL if you don't have a smartphone.

[oscar]

In that thread, someone mentioned needing some kind of electronic proof of vaccination[/size]. One day last week, I saw a news story that was accompanied by a photo of some sort of device scanning something on a smartphone in Europe for proof of vaccination[/size].

WRT "vaccine passports", my guess is that non-smartphone users will be accommodated somehow, such as with printed QR codes instead of the ones displayed in smartphone apps. I know that Quebec, which doesn't make its electronic vaccine passport available to non-residents, is allowing them to instead use paper proof of vaccination, along with proof of non-residency such as a driver's license.

[vdeane]

Essentially owning a credit card has become so ingrained in our society that not owning one puts you at a disadvantage. For example, some Chick-Fil-A's have gone cashless, meaning if you don't have a credit card, you won't be able to pay for a meal there. Walmart's recently been phasing out traditional registers in favor of self-checkout lanes that only accept credit cards, so if you're paying with cash, then you'll have to suffer through either a longer line at the manned checkout or maybe not even being able to pay at all (I've heard at night Walmarts now don't have anyone manning the registers).

I don't know how things evolved at WalMart, but at my local grocery store (Hannaford), the self checkouts used to accept cash but no longer do.  Not sure what the story is there.  I thought it was a temporary malfunction but it's been weeks now.

[Bruce]

I had to use my CDC vaccination card to enter restaurants in BC since their app only works with Canadian health cards. Would have been a lot more convenient with the app.

Smartphones are already required for work across a lot of industries, so it's only a matter of time. Trying to accommodate those without smartphones often ends up leading to convoluted solutions; for example, when we started allowing floating bikeshare to replace our docked system, companies were required to allow rentals by text but those could only be paid with a prepaid card purchased at a convenience store. Our docked system at least had keyfobs that didn't require a phone connection.

[triplemultiplex]

At the rate we are going as a society, not having one will be like going out somewhere without pants; you're probably not going to get in.

[abefroman329]

Essentially owning a credit card has become so ingrained in our society that not owning one puts you at a disadvantage. For example, some Chick-Fil-A's have gone cashless, meaning if you don't have a credit card, you won't be able to pay for a meal there. Walmart's recently been phasing out traditional registers in favor of self-checkout lanes that only accept credit cards, so if you're paying with cash, then you'll have to suffer through either a longer line at the manned checkout or maybe not even being able to pay at all (I've heard at night Walmarts now don't have anyone manning the registers).

I don't know how things evolved at WalMart, but at my local grocery store (Hannaford), the self checkouts used to accept cash but no longer do.  Not sure what the story is there.  I thought it was a temporary malfunction but it's been weeks now.

I saw a handful of self-checkout machines at the Meijer in Grand Haven, MI that didn't accept cash.

This is, of course, separate from the regular machines that are "temporarily" not accepting cash.

[Roadgeekteen]

As technology keeps moving forward, some things will become so standard that if you don't have one you will be seriously behind. Smartphones are one of those things. Almost everyone under 40-50 has one and even my grandparents are starting to use them.

[JayhawkCO]

As technology keeps moving forward, some things will become so standard that if you don't have one you will be seriously behind. Smartphones are one of those things. Almost everyone under 40-50 has one and even my grandparents are starting to use them.

It's just like when microwaves or the internet became a thing.  You don't have to have it to go through life, but it makes it a heck of a lot more convenient if you do.

Chris

[hotdogPi]

I've had no problem paying cash everywhere I go.

[JayhawkCO]

I've had no problem paying cash everywhere I go.

Except you're missing out on credit card points.

Chris

[MikeTheActuary]

I have to have a smartphone for work:

To log in to the company network from outside the office, I need to use an RSA token app on a smatphone.

My company's offices are still on pandemic protocols -- we have to complete a health screening checklist on a corporate app, which also ensures we don't have too many people from one department in the same place at the same time.

And, since my office is in Montréal while I live in Connecticut....is there a non-smartphone way to use the ArriveCan app?

[Dirt Roads]

Essentially owning a credit card has become so ingrained in our society that not owning one puts you at a disadvantage. For example, some Chick-Fil-A's have gone cashless, meaning if you don't have a credit card, you won't be able to pay for a meal there. Walmart's recently been phasing out traditional registers in favor of self-checkout lanes that only accept credit cards, so if you're paying with cash, then you'll have to suffer through either a longer line at the manned checkout or maybe not even being able to pay at all (I've heard at night Walmarts now don't have anyone manning the registers).

I don't know how things evolved at WalMart, but at my local grocery store (Hannaford), the self checkouts used to accept cash but no longer do.  Not sure what the story is there.  I thought it was a temporary malfunction but it's been weeks now.

Speaking of Walmart, we just got a pickup order at our local store and they switched back to drive-up/pick-up.  However, they do not issue a receipt with a scan code anymore, and asked that we bring our "device" with the Walmart App to pickup the package.  (My new flip-phone is technically a Smartphone, if you want to read the App on the size of a postage stamp).  Anyhow, they did take our paperwork but they were certainly confused when we asked for the paperwork (receipt) back.

[1995hoo]

I know a fellow who claims he was unable to renew his Nationals season tickets because he doesn't have a smartphone. I was under the impression people without smartphones could go to the box office for assistance, but maybe that's only for single-game buyers.

(I should note he's a bit of an odd fellow in that he lives in Virginia but doesn't own a car either. He used to have season tickets to the Nationals, Capitals, Bullets, Redskins, Mystics (no joke), and DC United, and he took the bus and the subway to all of them. He dropped the Redskins a few years ago because there were too many night games and it was too hard to get home because the Metro closes too early.)

The concession stands at Verizon Center are to be cashless this coming season. I haven't been to a baseball game this year, so I don't know if the same applies at Nationals Park, and I couldn't care less about FedEx Field (no desire to go back after having to pay $60 to park there for a U2 concert a few years ago).

[Scott5114]

v@cc1nat10n ... v@cc1nat10n ... v@cc1ne ... c0v1d

Please stop doing this.

[Alps]

v@cc1nat10n ... v@cc1nat10n ... v@cc1ne ... c0v1d

Please stop doing this.

I have edited the post and I hope it is not reedited.

[hotdogPi]

v@cc1nat10n ... v@cc1nat10n ... v@cc1ne ... c0v1d

Please stop doing this.

I have edited the post and I hope it is not reedited.

It needs to be reedited due to a malformed ending size tag.

[hbelkins]

v@cc1nat10n ... v@cc1nat10n ... v@cc1ne ... c0v1d

Please stop doing this.

I'll try, although to be honest, it's become a habit anytime I type those words so the social media nags don't affix meaningless nags or "fact" checks.

Regarding work requiring smartphones: If it's a work-provided device, are you allowed to use it for personal reasons? Could you, for instance, put an event ticketing app on it and use it if that app served no work purpose?

One of my co-workers is retiring this week, and for the first time, she's having to get her own phone. In the past, she's used her work phone with various installed apps.

Regarding cash vs. plastic, after a lull in the notices, I've again started to see signs about a coin shortage with preferences for people to pay with plastic instead of legal tender. Self-checkouts, I've noticed, area about 65-35 both methods over card only, although I have seen an increasing number of "no cash back" limitations.

A co-worker of mine doesn't carry a lot of cash on trips. When he runs low, he'll duck into Walmart or a similar retailer and buy something inexpensive, and then get a sum of cash back off his debit card to tide him over.

[hotdogPi]

Regarding cash vs. plastic, after a lull in the notices, I've again started to see signs about a coin shortage with preferences for people to pay with plastic instead of legal tender.

If you pay exact change, they would probably appreciate it even more than paying with plastic, as it means they have more coins (and small bills) to give out as change to those who don't follow the signs.

I'll try, although to be honest, it's become a habit anytime I type those words so the social media nags don't affix meaningless nags or "fact" checks.

I'm not aware of any automated fact checking (other than one user-created bot on Reddit several years ago that infamously ranted against the fish parasites myth when seeing "selfish parasites"). It would seem way too prone to false positives.

[NWI_Irish96]

Regarding work requiring smartphones: If it's a work-provided device, are you allowed to use it for personal reasons? Could you, for instance, put an event ticketing app on it and use it if that app served no work purpose?

It really depends on how strict your employer's policies are. I think most allow a reasonable amount of personal use. I know a lot of companies are also switching to BYOD so then it becomes irrelevant.

[hbelkins]

Regarding work requiring smartphones: If it's a work-provided device, are you allowed to use it for personal reasons? Could you, for instance, put an event ticketing app on it and use it if that app served no work purpose?

It really depends on how strict your employer's policies are. I think most allow a reasonable amount of personal use. I know a lot of companies are also switching to BYOD so then it becomes irrelevant.

A major problem with that is that if you use your personal device for work reasons, it becomes discoverable in any legal actions. I occasionally had to do work stuff after hours from home on personal equipment years ago, but once work devices were issued to me, I keep all my work stuff off the stuff I own.

[Rothman]

Regarding cash vs. plastic, after a lull in the notices, I've again started to see signs about a coin shortage with preferences for people to pay with plastic instead of legal tender.

If you pay exact change, they would probably appreciate it even more than paying with plastic, as it means they have more coins (and small bills) to give out as change to those who don't follow the signs.

I'll try, although to be honest, it's become a habit anytime I type those words so the social media nags don't affix meaningless nags or "fact" checks.

I'm not aware of any automated fact checking (other than one user-created bot on Reddit several years ago that infamously ranted against the fish parasites myth when seeing "selfish parasites"). It would seem way too prone to false positives.

He's talking about the Facebook tags to posts that lead you to credible sources about vaccinations and COVID.  If you mention either, Facebook provides the links to fight misinformation about them.