You would think the poster of the article would have actually, I dunno, read the articles before baiting the audience with the last question.
1) There is no one complaining about the lines with the new parking meters, and in fact there is only one article that even comes close to criticizing the parking system. That is the second to the last link.
2) The actual point of the original article is not "these new meters are stupid" but "hey, look, you've just contracted with a private company that can now revoke our driver's license" which has understandably gotten people upset. In fact, people are more worried about this than the new meters.
3) I can think of a better way to pay for parking once you and everybody else stops complaining about the 1/2 block walk to and from your meter. It's. A. Half. Block. Walk. It is five minutes of your time there and back. Would you like to pay more in parking prices to eliminate the walk? The smart meters can be dropped on a block where old parking meters were at without upgrading or changing how things are done. The ParkMagic system requires account creation, account services, technical services, technical infrastructure, etc. which is more expensive than a digital upgrade on an old idea:
Old idea: Money in decentralized system put in meter = parking. Put in money, print out ticket, put on car window.
New Idea: Create an account, wait for large item in mail to arrive, put large item on dashboard advertising you have a parking account (which is guaranteed free parking for a quick smash and grab), use a phone to call in to add time to the meter, have phone connect to a server, have the server call out to your specific doodad, and have your doodad increment the parking.
Which do you think is cheaper/easier to implement?
Slashdot Mirror
You would think the poster of the article would have actually, I dunno, read the articles before baiting the audience with the last question.
1) There is no one complaining about the lines with the new parking meters, and in fact there is only one article that even comes close to criticizing the parking system. That is the second to the last link.
2) The actual point of the original article is not "these new meters are stupid" but "hey, look, you've just contracted with a private company that can now revoke our driver's license" which has understandably gotten people upset. In fact, people are more worried about this than the new meters.
3) I can think of a better way to pay for parking once you and everybody else stops complaining about the 1/2 block walk to and from your meter. It's. A. Half. Block. Walk. It is five minutes of your time there and back. Would you like to pay more in parking prices to eliminate the walk? The smart meters can be dropped on a block where old parking meters were at without upgrading or changing how things are done. The ParkMagic system requires account creation, account services, technical services, technical infrastructure, etc. which is more expensive than a digital upgrade on an old idea:
Old idea: Money in decentralized system put in meter = parking. Put in money, print out ticket, put on car window.
New Idea: Create an account, wait for large item in mail to arrive, put large item on dashboard advertising you have a parking account (which is guaranteed free parking for a quick smash and grab), use a phone to call in to add time to the meter, have phone connect to a server, have the server call out to your specific doodad, and have your doodad increment the parking.
Which do you think is cheaper/easier to implement?