I’ve not been doing too well on the old blog recently, mainly because I’ve had to get into the routine of a new job, and partly because I’ve run short of ideas of things to write. Anyway, I’ve made a list of some writing projects I want to get into, and this is one of them. I hope to make Tech Snippets a regular feature, although it’ll almost certainly appear at irregular intervals.
Being somewhat tech-phobic as I am, I use a Filofax to organise my time. I was a bit ahead of the curve in the 90s in using Psion handheld computers to manage my life, as they had a superb Agenda application, but I’ve hated every electronic calendar I’ve used ever since, and I’m much happier on paper. Filofaxes allow a huge amount of flexibility and customisation, and I really enjoy using them. Anyway – a few days ago I was browsing the Filofax inserts section of a WH Smith store, and noticed that 2025 diaries were available. The choice was between own-brand WH Smith inserts, and Filofax inserts.
I’ve used both brands recently, and there’s not been much to choose from between them in the past, but this time around I was horrified to see that Filofax have introduced a gimmicky “smart” feature to their diaries. Every single day in their diaries now has a QR code printed on it, and this allows the use of an app to send reminders to your phone. Essentially you can photograph an entry in your Filofax, and get your phone to show it at a particular time/date.
All I can say to that is – ugh. That’s NEVER a feature I’m going to want. I appreciate that generally, in not using a phone to run my life, I’m sweeping the tide back with a brush, and that it’ll probably appeal to some people. However, I use my Filofax because I resist the constant encroachment of technology into my life, and I try to avoid using my smartphone as much as possible (I much prefer using a Light Phone 2 when I can).
In looking at whether to purchase the Filofax or WH Smith brand inserts, the lack of QR codes on the WH Smith brand immediately made the decision for me. I found the QR codes on the Filofax inserts, that I would never use, to be intrusive, distracting and a waste of space. Would you use these yourself? Comment below if you have any observations.
Moving on – literally moving, in fact – I bought a train ticket at the weekend. I normally buy all my train tickets from ticket offices or self-service machines, and opt for them on paper, for many of the reasons detailed above – I resent to intrusion of digital technology into every aspect of my life, and will resist it as much as I can. Anyway, I chose to buy my ticket on an app, in this case the Virgin Trains Ticketing app. Virgin have been keen to keep their brand prominent in the rail industry since they lost their franchise on the West Coast Main Line a few years ago, and they’ve been running a promotion to get new customers. Buy a ticket, get £5 off your second ticket. I tried to see if you could buy a ticket for less than £5 to claim the discount (I can recommend a single from Ryde Pier Head to Ryde Esplanade!), but you have to spend a fiver to gain the fiver! I bought a ticket from my local station to Glasgow, travelling on ScotRail, and expected to get a barcode I could show in the app, but I had to go and collect paper tickets from a self-service machine. This is because ScotRail won’t issue e-tickets. These are quite flexible because you can either show them in Google/Apple wallets, as a PDF on your phone, or you can print them out and show them on paper. ScotRail only issue m-tickets are dependent on an app, in this case their own, and can only be shown within that app. So…if you don’t have the right phone, you can’t use them, and you can’t print them, in case you’re worried your phone battery will die or something.
Pretty shoddy, to be honest, and something that reeks to me of digital exclusion. Don’t have a smartphone, or don’t want to use it? OK, we’ll make navigating our ticketing system pointlessly difficult. ScotRail have already got rid of printed timetables at stations, and posters detailing engineering work, replacing them with posters containing QR codes. Some of their stations are really remote and don’t have any internet access, so even if you DO have a suitable smartphone, good luck getting any information. Again, I know I’m getting wound up over an issue that increasingly affects only a small minority of goat-herders, but I really resent the idea that to fully access public services, and take part in society and commerce, you have to own a really expensive device, and a data connection. It’s not right that you can’t access information, and that buying and using tickets is made much harder, if you don’t have a plethora of apps and are tethered to Google, Apple, Vodafone etc. etc.
Again – am I howling into the wind? Does any of this stuff matter? What year is this? Who is the president?
