French Town Tests Cashless Society

SamiousHaze writes to mention a Silicon.com article about an attempt in a French tourist town, Caen, to do away with cash in some locales. From the article: "Among [the locations in the trial] is an underground car park; the town hall; a bus stop which can transmit timetable information; a cinema poster which downloads video trailers to users' mobiles; a local supermarket, where people can pay for their groceries with a mobile phone, and a tourist information sign outside the historic Abbaye des Hommes. By touching the mobile against the 'Flytag' logo at each of these locations, users can pay for services or receive information straight to their phone."

Comments

What about

[Anonymous Coward]

strip clubs? Where do you swipe your debit card?

Euros Merci

[digitaldc]

Great, now how is this guygoing to afford his lifestyle?

But will deodorant be available?!?

[Anonymous Coward]

Cash...Cashless...it's all irrelevant. The real question is if this will help raise the demand for deodorant?

Overheard in the French town of Caen...

[slcdb]

"Aw crap! My wallet's battery just died."

Re:WTF? Many US soldiers died at Normandy

[Anonymous Coward]

Shot in the back running away no doubt

Re:Yeah but what happens in case of a blackout?

[DirePickle]

Now suppose a natural disaster (earthquake, hurricane, who knows) took out the power lines. How will you buy the goods you need?

You are obviously new to this whole disaster thing. The solution is simple: With a brick and a mob!

Re:Loss of privacy

[geoffspear]

Sure they can. The video cameras taping everything you do pick up the serial numbers as the bills are being handed to you. However, the technology isn't perfect; I find that the glare coming off a well-constructed tin-foil hat creates lens flares on the cameras that can obfuscate the serial numbers.

I don't think they have a choice...

[JustASlashDotGuy]

I would think with unemployment sky rocketing in France, that many French towns world be accustomed to a
cashless society.

Re:You mean Caen, don't you?

[Creedo]

Damn, man, have you ever tried to move a tank through Caen? You have to keep rebuilding bridges, and blowing up gates. It's a real PITA. Helps if you have a covert ops, though.