Not having Bank-Id or e-identification makes life pretty hilarious sometimes, here in Sweden. The reason for this is, there's no law requiring me to have one. However, there is law and precedence cases stating that all public works, civil services and private companies acting on behalf of the public sector /must/ provide services equally, no matter if someone has an e-id of any kind, or not.
So technically speaking, despite the buses not accepting cash, they are compelled by law to do so provided you pay the exact sum. Now, the driver would refuse, the bus would be held up, and you'd have to go to civil court (and pay for that yourself), and so on - but precedence for this was established years ago, when an elderly man actually took such a case all the way to Regeringsrätten (the highest civil court, and the one that sets precedence).
So thanks to that, when I go to see my doctor, the hospital has to mail a paper bill to my home address. And legislation is in the works for forcing critical service providers to be compelled by law to accept cash payments (petrol stations, pharamcies, and such).
They sure are tech-happy here, but there's a lot of push-back too, from within the system.
Recently got an unlucky parking ticket and incurred a motorway toll charge in Italy.
Parking ticket featured a QR code requiring a smartphone to decipher which then linked to a payment app. After a while we found a non-app website alternative was also available permitting card payments without setting up an account and supposedly without saving any data. No bank account details were listed, so I can't imagine how one would go about paying without internet access/banking/credit card.
Toll charge payment for free-flow motorway also required visiting a website which promotes installing an app or opening a user account but at least makes payment alternatively possible at a number of service stations and a chain of ATMs.
The irony of these ostensibly time/cost-saving measures is that while the brief stop at a toll booth on the motorway is obviated, the burden is shifted to the driver to ensure payment compliance and is effectively a stealth tax on the driver's time post journey. Alternatively the driver is obliged to set up a user account storing personal payment data in order to avail of more seamless automated payment.
Much of the conveniences of the brave new electronic world involve similar shifts of labour and time from service providers onto the customer. The wealthy still pay third parties to make their bookings, advise on purchases, install and troubleshoot their electronic systems, etc., but a plebeian majority is left to do the work of the travel agent, civil servant, salesperson, technician, lawyer, consultant, etc. assisted by their electronic devices, chatbots, Frequently Asked Questions, and growing ranks of algorithmic Google/Siri/Alexa/etc. assistants.
Discount supermarkets have long led the charge in such cost-savings, for example, by duping the customer into weighing their own fruit and vegetables, or bagging their own groceries. The latest push is to get the customer to fully assume the work of a checkout assistant by scanning, entering payment, and bagging their own groceries at self-checkouts.
If a service is free or cheaper than standard then either the customer often provides the shortfall in through their own labour and/or the customer's time/data is the real product.
Yes, yes, yes - recognition factor 100%! Add the litany of the technomagos:
"But it works so well when it works as intended!" and I could sweat adrenaline from rage.
In Malmö when ICA Malmborgs (one of them super-duper sized stores, almost the size of a soccer field) got four unmanned checkout points, losses via petty theft increased by 1 400% the first quarter.
People would scan some objects and pay for those, but not for stuff like prime beef.
The store manager "solved" this by having four employees supervise the self-checkout to make sure all items were paid for. I could have have driven nails into stone by head-desking when he proudly (!) told me about his solution.
I no longer have it or remember the title, but there was a study made in Norway in the early 2000s, about net time-saving from using internet, online stuff et cetera. While there was real gain/savings for large-scale organisations, for individuals it was a net loss.
And if the staff had access to non-work related stuff, about 20% drop in potential efficiency. Social media has only made it worse - it's not unusual to stand in line at the health care centre's check-in desk, and seeing one nurse flip between a patient's file and the nurse's Facebook page.
I think the Nordic countries are run by people who, seemingly childishly, engage in all 'the new things'; yes, some time is spent on consideration of what might go wrong, but their positive adoption seemingly never wanes. Over time, as disadvantages pile up, sometimes things change, but overall, no big shifts.
As to the net benefits, well, I'll add an anecdote from academia (which I know best): people working in academia are the most privileged members of what used to be called 'the working class', and lest a lone Marxist reads these lines, my definition is academics must work for a salary, hence their inclusion in this category.
Problem is, even if one enjoys all the privileges and perks--relative autonomy in terms of time-planning, self-organisation, avenues of research, etc.--it would seem that a Pareto-like split of 80 : 20 is observed, with the larger group being simply rudderless, quite unproductive, and thoroughly un-creative (by which I mean: disinterested in 'their' subjects). Your point about social media is well taken, because most of my colleagues are quite like that.
Go figure.
Also, analogue is fine, don't get me wrong, but if one disposes of (enough) self-discipline, the internet is a marvellous place to go to. Sadly, most academics are…well, you know.
I don't know for sure but I suspect that the archetype of the wide-eyed country bumpkin with an inferiority complex towards his refined cousin from the big city exists in austrian vaudeville and theater?
Because that archetype explains the psychological-cultural shortcoming of all the Nordic/Scandinavian nations, as per your first parapgraph. If it's new, they jump on it to show the big nations that they can do it too.
Paired with the sycophantic attitude of a true apple-polisher, it makes for very poor quality of character when it comes to decision making. Essentially, the people making the mistakes must retire or die for any real change for the better to take effect.
Well, there's the term 'Besserwisser', which, according to the Cambridge English Dictionary, means:
'An unkind name for a person who thinks he knows everything', as in, 'he had a reputation for being a bit of a know-all'.
There's a ton of stereotypes in literature about that particular kind of character trait, but I suppose the funniest thing I could come up with is an anecdote.
As you know, there's a bunch of German-speakers who dwell among the Northerners, and they also bring their such 'attitudes' with them. Imagine my amazement to observe 'these Germans' being treated like 'they' (of course, all of 'them') typically treat everyone else…
I'm sorry about these inconveniences, but you're right about the costs accruing to 'the public' while someone else (the oligarchs) rake in the money.
Case in point, look at, e.g., Mr. Trump--he typically has a bundle of cash and hands it out to, say, homeless, as tips, etc. The rich don't use 'loans', mortgages, etc. They pay cash, and they do so for a very good reason.
Now, shall we guess as to why 'they' want 'us' to forego cash…?
It is technically--i.e., legally--possible to go through life in Norway without one of these abominations (which I didn't know when I was 'offered' one upon opening a bank account).
Problem is, there are laws on the books, incl. ones comparable to Sweden (no discrimination against anyone who wants a bank account; the right to pay cash up until 1,000 NOK = approx. US$ 100, etc.), but more and more businesses are ignoring the law--while the gov't appears unwilling to enforce the law. There was a state media report last summer about restaurants and small businesses in Oslo refusing to accept cash, which is blatantly illegal. No fines or anything else happened, hence it won't stop.
Also, even 'good' laws and regulations aren't worth anything if police and the courts won't enforce them; case in point, guess what would've happened if but one of these cash refuseniks would have had to pay exorbitant fines…
Not having Bank-Id or e-identification makes life pretty hilarious sometimes, here in Sweden. The reason for this is, there's no law requiring me to have one. However, there is law and precedence cases stating that all public works, civil services and private companies acting on behalf of the public sector /must/ provide services equally, no matter if someone has an e-id of any kind, or not.
So technically speaking, despite the buses not accepting cash, they are compelled by law to do so provided you pay the exact sum. Now, the driver would refuse, the bus would be held up, and you'd have to go to civil court (and pay for that yourself), and so on - but precedence for this was established years ago, when an elderly man actually took such a case all the way to Regeringsrätten (the highest civil court, and the one that sets precedence).
So thanks to that, when I go to see my doctor, the hospital has to mail a paper bill to my home address. And legislation is in the works for forcing critical service providers to be compelled by law to accept cash payments (petrol stations, pharamcies, and such).
They sure are tech-happy here, but there's a lot of push-back too, from within the system.
Recently got an unlucky parking ticket and incurred a motorway toll charge in Italy.
Parking ticket featured a QR code requiring a smartphone to decipher which then linked to a payment app. After a while we found a non-app website alternative was also available permitting card payments without setting up an account and supposedly without saving any data. No bank account details were listed, so I can't imagine how one would go about paying without internet access/banking/credit card.
Toll charge payment for free-flow motorway also required visiting a website which promotes installing an app or opening a user account but at least makes payment alternatively possible at a number of service stations and a chain of ATMs.
The irony of these ostensibly time/cost-saving measures is that while the brief stop at a toll booth on the motorway is obviated, the burden is shifted to the driver to ensure payment compliance and is effectively a stealth tax on the driver's time post journey. Alternatively the driver is obliged to set up a user account storing personal payment data in order to avail of more seamless automated payment.
Much of the conveniences of the brave new electronic world involve similar shifts of labour and time from service providers onto the customer. The wealthy still pay third parties to make their bookings, advise on purchases, install and troubleshoot their electronic systems, etc., but a plebeian majority is left to do the work of the travel agent, civil servant, salesperson, technician, lawyer, consultant, etc. assisted by their electronic devices, chatbots, Frequently Asked Questions, and growing ranks of algorithmic Google/Siri/Alexa/etc. assistants.
Discount supermarkets have long led the charge in such cost-savings, for example, by duping the customer into weighing their own fruit and vegetables, or bagging their own groceries. The latest push is to get the customer to fully assume the work of a checkout assistant by scanning, entering payment, and bagging their own groceries at self-checkouts.
If a service is free or cheaper than standard then either the customer often provides the shortfall in through their own labour and/or the customer's time/data is the real product.
Yes, yes, yes - recognition factor 100%! Add the litany of the technomagos:
"But it works so well when it works as intended!" and I could sweat adrenaline from rage.
In Malmö when ICA Malmborgs (one of them super-duper sized stores, almost the size of a soccer field) got four unmanned checkout points, losses via petty theft increased by 1 400% the first quarter.
People would scan some objects and pay for those, but not for stuff like prime beef.
The store manager "solved" this by having four employees supervise the self-checkout to make sure all items were paid for. I could have have driven nails into stone by head-desking when he proudly (!) told me about his solution.
I no longer have it or remember the title, but there was a study made in Norway in the early 2000s, about net time-saving from using internet, online stuff et cetera. While there was real gain/savings for large-scale organisations, for individuals it was a net loss.
And if the staff had access to non-work related stuff, about 20% drop in potential efficiency. Social media has only made it worse - it's not unusual to stand in line at the health care centre's check-in desk, and seeing one nurse flip between a patient's file and the nurse's Facebook page.
Go analogue!
I think the Nordic countries are run by people who, seemingly childishly, engage in all 'the new things'; yes, some time is spent on consideration of what might go wrong, but their positive adoption seemingly never wanes. Over time, as disadvantages pile up, sometimes things change, but overall, no big shifts.
As to the net benefits, well, I'll add an anecdote from academia (which I know best): people working in academia are the most privileged members of what used to be called 'the working class', and lest a lone Marxist reads these lines, my definition is academics must work for a salary, hence their inclusion in this category.
Problem is, even if one enjoys all the privileges and perks--relative autonomy in terms of time-planning, self-organisation, avenues of research, etc.--it would seem that a Pareto-like split of 80 : 20 is observed, with the larger group being simply rudderless, quite unproductive, and thoroughly un-creative (by which I mean: disinterested in 'their' subjects). Your point about social media is well taken, because most of my colleagues are quite like that.
Go figure.
Also, analogue is fine, don't get me wrong, but if one disposes of (enough) self-discipline, the internet is a marvellous place to go to. Sadly, most academics are…well, you know.
I don't know for sure but I suspect that the archetype of the wide-eyed country bumpkin with an inferiority complex towards his refined cousin from the big city exists in austrian vaudeville and theater?
Because that archetype explains the psychological-cultural shortcoming of all the Nordic/Scandinavian nations, as per your first parapgraph. If it's new, they jump on it to show the big nations that they can do it too.
Paired with the sycophantic attitude of a true apple-polisher, it makes for very poor quality of character when it comes to decision making. Essentially, the people making the mistakes must retire or die for any real change for the better to take effect.
Well, there's the term 'Besserwisser', which, according to the Cambridge English Dictionary, means:
'An unkind name for a person who thinks he knows everything', as in, 'he had a reputation for being a bit of a know-all'.
There's a ton of stereotypes in literature about that particular kind of character trait, but I suppose the funniest thing I could come up with is an anecdote.
As you know, there's a bunch of German-speakers who dwell among the Northerners, and they also bring their such 'attitudes' with them. Imagine my amazement to observe 'these Germans' being treated like 'they' (of course, all of 'them') typically treat everyone else…
I'm sorry about these inconveniences, but you're right about the costs accruing to 'the public' while someone else (the oligarchs) rake in the money.
Case in point, look at, e.g., Mr. Trump--he typically has a bundle of cash and hands it out to, say, homeless, as tips, etc. The rich don't use 'loans', mortgages, etc. They pay cash, and they do so for a very good reason.
Now, shall we guess as to why 'they' want 'us' to forego cash…?
It is technically--i.e., legally--possible to go through life in Norway without one of these abominations (which I didn't know when I was 'offered' one upon opening a bank account).
Problem is, there are laws on the books, incl. ones comparable to Sweden (no discrimination against anyone who wants a bank account; the right to pay cash up until 1,000 NOK = approx. US$ 100, etc.), but more and more businesses are ignoring the law--while the gov't appears unwilling to enforce the law. There was a state media report last summer about restaurants and small businesses in Oslo refusing to accept cash, which is blatantly illegal. No fines or anything else happened, hence it won't stop.
Also, even 'good' laws and regulations aren't worth anything if police and the courts won't enforce them; case in point, guess what would've happened if but one of these cash refuseniks would have had to pay exorbitant fines…
Yep, yep, yep