Mulling over Rene Laederach to Steve Asher 23 Aug 2003

Hi Rene...

SA> Increasingly, goods & services such as internet accounts are being
SA> marketed here as "valid credit card only", with cash & cheques
SA> being refused. I bought a prepaid starter kit for a mobile phone

 RL> Not only in Oz. Also here. It has become quite difficult to buy
 RL> anything without plastic, including gas for the car, or taking a
 RL> bus ride with that "Cash" chip whose balance can easily be siphoned
 RL> off by criminals. One who uses public transport needs it for the 
 RL> simple reason that the ticket automats don't accept coins anymore.

I can, if I wish, buy a coca cola from certain vending machines using
my mobile phone, but I have no desire or reason to do so. The "smart"
travel card has not yet been introduced here (in my state / city),
which uses the 1980s Crouzet system. "Smart" contactless travel cards
will come, of course, & you are probably right that criminals will
soon learn how to milk the things as passengers walk past them.

SA> licences are simply credentials to show that people have the competence
SA> to drive certain classes of vehicle, & have paid the fees, nothing more.

 RL> It shows they paid some money, but it doesn't mean they are
 RL> actually  competent for what their licence declares them to be....

Fortunately, most are reasonably competent - the incompetent ones tend to
steal cars & drive without licences anyway, & the courts slap them with a
feather when they get caught following a high speed chase that writes off
the stolen car & 1 or 2 police chase cars.

Cheers, Steve..

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