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I know there are things like this, but I don't think they should be allowed. Not everyone has a smartphone. Many elderly people don't. Many poor people don't. M

I know there are things like this, but I don't think they should be allowed. Not everyone has a smartphone. Many elderly people don't. Many poor people don't. Many disabled people don't. Yes, having the option to bypass human interaction using a phone should be allowed, but to make travel dependent on having a smartphone is insane. It's like those websites for signing up for the Covid vaccine ignoring that a lot of elderly people have no idea what that even means.

calvinmorrison 6y ago
I rented a U-Haul recently to pick up furniture. I reserved a 1/2 truck online. Upon arriving I entered the office and said I had a reservation. He then asked me to fill out a form on my phone. Then when I returned the vehicle I went in to drop off the keys. I had to take photos and fill out a form, again on a phone. The whole system was geared for 'easy' 'seamless' pickup, but it was much more difficult then renting a car a decade ago. They eliminated a cost of having more than one useless employee by making the customer do all the work. Totally infuriating and a horrible experience.
fuball63 6y ago
I agree, it shouldn't be like this. Unfortunately the reality is, if you decide to stick to the way things should be instead of how they are, you either 1) pay a heavy social tax of explaining to your friends/family/coworkers/strangers that no, you can't just install the app or 2) rely on other people to help you, forcing them into the situation you avoid. I do both of these regularly, sadly.
burlesona 6y ago
gsub/smartphone/car and you can see where society is headed. A lot of the world is going to just assume smartphones are mandatory and not give a bleep if you don't have one. Try walking around 90% of the US. I agree with you, by the way, that neither the status quo of car-dependency nor the inevitable smartphone dependency should be allowed... but here we are.

calvinmorrison 6y ago

I rented a U-Haul recently to pick up furniture. I reserved a 1/2 truck online. Upon arriving I entered the office and said I had a reservation. He then asked me to fill out a form on my phone. Then when I returned the vehicle I went in to drop off the keys. I had to take photos and fill out a form, again on a phone. The whole system was geared for 'easy' 'seamless' pickup, but it was much more difficult then renting a car a decade ago. They eliminated a cost of having more than one useless employee by making the customer do all the work. Totally infuriating and a horrible experience.

fuball63 6y ago

I agree, it shouldn't be like this. Unfortunately the reality is, if you decide to stick to the way things should be instead of how they are, you either 1) pay a heavy social tax of explaining to your friends/family/coworkers/strangers that no, you can't just install the app or 2) rely on other people to help you, forcing them into the situation you avoid. I do both of these regularly, sadly.

burlesona 6y ago

gsub/smartphone/car and you can see where society is headed. A lot of the world is going to just assume smartphones are mandatory and not give a bleep if you don't have one. Try walking around 90% of the US. I agree with you, by the way, that neither the status quo of car-dependency nor the inevitable smartphone dependency should be allowed... but here we are.