undefined | Better HN

0 pointsnetsharc3y ago0 comments

> We would accept cards, but all the payment terminals have a screen.

Well this sticking to the rules no matter what is where you lose my sympathy. This is like TSA agressively checking toddlers and old grannies for making the scanner go beep or having some water, because, hey, if the scanner beeps they might be terrorists.

Just like screens are a new thing, this inflexible robot-like-behavior is also new, and geez, I wish you could also fight the second one.

Sure payment terminals are screens, but it's not like they're addictive screens where you get tweets or text messages...

0 comments

3 comments · 1 top-level

haswell3y ago· 2 in thread

> Well this sticking to the rules no matter what is where you lose my sympathy

Cash-only places are less common than they used to be, but there are still some really popular places to eat near me. And they’re popular for a good reason: they provide excellent food/service, and delivery services can’t insert themselves into the business model. It means I have to pass an ATM that day, but it’s a perfectly viable model.

If I’m going to a place called no screens cafe, I’d personally appreciate the complete commitment to the endeavor. If nothing else, it’s an invitation to ponder the frictionless ways we part with our money almost everywhere else.

Comparing “cash only” to “aggressive TSA” seems like a rather stretched analogy.

netsharcOP3y ago

It's cash only because pay terminals have screens, and his inflexible TSA-like adherence to the rules don't allow screens.

Imagine a potential patron to this (afaik still hypothetical) cafe has a hypothetical medical device attached to her that has a monitoring screen. Should she be allowed in, or not? Cut-and-dry no, easy enough, right? Who needs to be flexible?

OP's idea of no screens is so people aren't glued to digital entertainment, it's not like a pay terminal screen (or a medical device's status display) is digital entertainment..

haswell3y ago

I would frequent such a place for one of the same reasons I go camping. To fully disconnect from technology and to experience an environment entirely devoid of digital devices. A return to the current moment.

Such a place may not be for everyone and to me that seems fine. Camping is also not for everyone and that is also fine.

A cash only stance makes sense because paying for things will happen all day, every day. If your goal is no screens and that goal is in your name, that’s an impactful step to take.

If someone has a hypothetical medical device with a screen (do you have one in mind?) I’m sure the owners of such an establishment would seek to find ways to accommodate. It’s an edge case and not likely to impact the overall atmosphere.

But to your point, this is hypothetical. I’d rather that such a place exists and then learns how to deal with edge cases than not exist at all.

2 more replies

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse