I have never heard of it before seeing it listed on the website. And I am FORCED to watch Food Network all the time.
I was shocked to learn last summer that, when one of my buddies invited me to join him at a Nats game, most of the food stands in his mid-tier level were credit card only joints. When I complained about it, my friend told me that his observation is that the younger generation doesn't carry cash and uses their credit/debit cards for just about everything. Maybe, we've become old fogies.
My son is 27 and lives in the District. I don't think he carries cash when he goes out -- everything is credit, debit or NFC transfer. In some ways, this is safer, both for him and those who otherwise would be handling cash instead of electronic transactions. Absent the apocalypse, we are not going back to cash as the primary form of transaction.
I just turned 50 and live in Ashburn, and I never carry cash. Use credit/debit or NFC. Of course, Capital One closing all of the goddamn branches near me helped get me off of cash.
Unless all you are carrying are 20's and want a single beer, or worse yet, a water. Cash is a mess and will be gone the day of the dodo within 10 years. As @Abner Ravenwood noted, the brick and mortar bank branches are closing down because of the high overhead and really very little service for them to provide. My son also banks online. If you notice, the online banks, which are FDIC insured, all offer higher interest rates on savings, CD's, etc. You all may not like it, but its the future.
[QUOTE="tallguy, post: 37216240, member: 48801" Maybe, we've become old fogies.[/QUOTE] Maybe? (and get off my lawn!)
I don't think I'm paranoid to be worried about how this is just another way our privacy is gradually being compromised. The private sector is setting up a system of tracking everything we say and do that will sooner or later be used against us. Is the tiny savings generated by getting rid of cash worth it? Are we even the beneficieries of that savings? Or is "dynamic pricing" in all aspects of our lives the more likely result? Just thought I'd say that.
You know, people on this board who don't know we're related are gonna think you're a dick. I mean, they wouldn't be *wrong*...
I think that we passed the point of no return on the road towards a Brave New World quite a ways back. I suppose that the best we can hope for now is that Roddenberry will prove to be more nearly right about our future than Orwell. Or more right than Cormac McCarthy's vision in The Road, for that matter.
Alright, I'm 54 from west of Ashburn and I have no idea what NFC even is outside of a football context. I spend way more money when I'm out using my debit card instead of cash and I always like to have both just in case. Besides, one day all that electronic money is just gonna disappear and I'll be wishing I took out even more cash. There's nothing I chuckle at more than the confused looks some (usually young, bearded) people have when they run into a good bar or breakfast joint that's Cash Only and they have to leave. I suppose we should feel pretty good that we're no longer talking too much about big huge problems with the venue and are just waving our fists at each other about cash vs credit and other smaller things mostly these days I'm still looking forward to going to a stadium next year that's actually built up properly and ready for fans from the first day. Audi Field instead of Eagle Bank field as it were I hope they think about how to better deal with fan entry in this new stadium.
Oh, this entirely appropos headline popped up when I checked The Hive a few minutes ago: “They’re Playing Both Sides”: Bezos’s Flirtation with ICE Appalls Amazon Employees Amazon workers are up in arms over reports that the company continued talks with ICE about facial-recognition software. “Pushing technology that’s such a clear violation of people’s privacy and personal information is insane and hypocritical,” said one, “and they know exactly why it’s wrong.” Be seeing you.
Are you posting that because Amazon is our new shirt sponsor for 2019? And/Or facial recognition will really speed up the lines
Oh, I've got nothing AGAINST cash, and will plan ahead if I need it. It's just inconvenient as I need to go out of my way to get it. So I really only do it when the kids need it for allowance, or something for school. And the NFC is on my phone. Activate it with my fingerprint and tap the card reader. BAM - future, son! Though I guess you could tap the card reader in the past, but that would have more of a sexual-mystical context than a financial one.
You are right about the point of no return. The minute you turn on a cell phone, you are identified and your general location is known. Nowadays if you want to be anonymous and off the grid, you have to have a Unabomber lifestyle. And I'm not up to no phone, no heat, no A/C and living in a plywood shack in the mountains.
NFC is "near field communications" and it allows data transmission between nearby devices. You set up an app to take money from your bank and send it off across the ether to something waiting to take it after authorization (e.g., fingerprint, PIN entry, whatever) and protocol handshake. I don't trust that nonsense, but mostly because of work. Your average Shawn Blow might be just fine using it, but them Chinese and Russians got eyes out for some people. Also, I am a dick. But usually only to people who deserve it.
OMG. CapOne closing most of their branches has driven nucking futs. I usually have cash on me, especially game days, because my lot is cash only, but I can take it or leave it when it comes to how I pay. Its all the same one way or the other. 47 yo geezer here
My objection to using a card at a food/drink stand at Audi Field is that it seems to take much longer than simply using cash. And when you are trying to get back to your seat so as not to miss any action every minute counts.
I always carry cash, but seldom use it because my credit cards give me a rebate on everything I buy. People who pay with cash or debit are subsidizing me. But one time I was in the grocery store and their credit card system crashed. I suggested that they open a lane for people with cash (oh yeah, I suppose we could do that...). Not many people had enough cash to pay for their groceries. So long as there are goods and services which are illegal but in high demand, there will be a need for cash.
Wait a minute... one of your complaints was: I don't really watch the food network. Too many competition shows, not enough educational shows (the Alton Brown re-boot excepted).
Unless there is a specific discounted price for "club members" I do not enter my member number when shopping at Wegman's as my feeling is they do not need to know what I am buying and when; I just use my credit card. The other day I got a phone call from Wegmans saying there was a recall for some product and their records show I purchased it a few days before. I only used my credit card.... Without cash ALL privacy is lost from both private and government interests. At the shopping malls my company runs, our systems begin tracking everyone as soon as their phone or other device interacts with our wifi networks (whether the person pro-actively connects or not). We track where they go on our campus and for how long; we can determine how much they spend at various vendors and so much more. This capability is a major reason MLS and the other sports entertainment businesses are going all digital. On the surface it is for "ticketing security" and to take a piece of the "secondary ticket marketplace" but the real reason to obtain maximum amount of CRM data and monetize that information. This then feeds back into negotiations for broadcast and advertising deals.