Simplicity on rails
Filed Under Annoyances
As a techno-geek and software developer, I’m very much in favour of technological advances. Yet sometimes I cannot shake the feeling that things have gotten a tad out of hand.
Consider rail travel in Germany with the Deutsche Bahn. A trip with the train used to involve the following: get on the train, buy the ticket from the conductor, lean back and enjoy the view.
But today, technology has made things so streamlined, integrated and generally buzzword-worthy that the old approach was considered laughably archaic, thus resulting in the much improved method we get to partake in today. First, you open the Deutsche Bahn website, where you search the timetable for the train you intend to travel on. Then, you purchase a ticket by creating a DB account and entering your personal details such as address, DOB and credit card number. Once payment has been confirmed, you are sent an email containing a PDF of your ticket that you have to print out. Once on the train, the conductor uses a high-tech gadget to scan the barcode on your printed ticket, then pulls your credit card through the gadget to confirm your identity. And after this process-optimised, welcome-to-the-future extravaganza, you are finally invited to lean back and enjoy the view.
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