Forty years ago, I walked into a stadium with a paper ticket, one-fourth of which was a perforated, detachable section, and a sixty-year-old man forcefully rendered asunder the two portions by tearing the smaller end off, placing it into a smal trash can located conveniently.
Ten years ago, I had a paper ticket without perforations but with a bold, bar code located near the bottom, and a sixty year old man pointed a small hand-held device emitting a slender red “lazer-like” light, that when properly aimed at the bar code on my ticket, emitted a pleasant “beep,” which (we all assumed) meant “let this SOB in.”
The last 4 years, we have had our tickets on our I-phones, with our “UK Ticket-Master Ap,” installed . . . . we fumbled and bumbled as we limped toward the stadium, nervously glancing about looking for someone less than 40 should we need need tech advise at the last second, finally managing to open our I-phone “wallet,” we expose a square bar code, a 70 year old man (yes, he too has aged) points a hand-held device at our hand-held device, it emits a “ping.” which, again, all involved assume means, “let the b@st@rds through.”
Yesterday, my 68 year old brother and I (now 60) fumble with his I-phone, open his wallet to our bar codes, approach a 73 year old man (yeah) with nary a device in his hand, who assists by taking the I-phone and pointing it to a fixed, waist-high devise, which stands on it own. It emits an arguably pleasant sound, satisfying all.
And this only took, perhaps 15 seconds, roughly doubling the amount of time it once took a sixty year old man to tear a perforated paper ticket, back when Jerry Claiborne coached football, and I was trying to figure out how to make a Commodore 64 and 20 year-old girls emit a pleasant sound.
We’ve come so far!!
We now boldly go (slowly) and stand in line, where none have stood in line before!!
Ten years ago, I had a paper ticket without perforations but with a bold, bar code located near the bottom, and a sixty year old man pointed a small hand-held device emitting a slender red “lazer-like” light, that when properly aimed at the bar code on my ticket, emitted a pleasant “beep,” which (we all assumed) meant “let this SOB in.”
The last 4 years, we have had our tickets on our I-phones, with our “UK Ticket-Master Ap,” installed . . . . we fumbled and bumbled as we limped toward the stadium, nervously glancing about looking for someone less than 40 should we need need tech advise at the last second, finally managing to open our I-phone “wallet,” we expose a square bar code, a 70 year old man (yes, he too has aged) points a hand-held device at our hand-held device, it emits a “ping.” which, again, all involved assume means, “let the b@st@rds through.”
Yesterday, my 68 year old brother and I (now 60) fumble with his I-phone, open his wallet to our bar codes, approach a 73 year old man (yeah) with nary a device in his hand, who assists by taking the I-phone and pointing it to a fixed, waist-high devise, which stands on it own. It emits an arguably pleasant sound, satisfying all.
And this only took, perhaps 15 seconds, roughly doubling the amount of time it once took a sixty year old man to tear a perforated paper ticket, back when Jerry Claiborne coached football, and I was trying to figure out how to make a Commodore 64 and 20 year-old girls emit a pleasant sound.
We’ve come so far!!
We now boldly go (slowly) and stand in line, where none have stood in line before!!
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