Wow, this brings me back to the AOL days. It’s hard to imagine, but those Translink add-value kiosks are probably making these sounds somewhere behind the scenes. I wonder if it says “Goodbye!” after it’s done with your transaction.
MrEricSir might be able to clarify on this, but if it’s true, that’s OLD SCHOOL.
That being said, I guess if it aint broke don’t fix it. Oh wait, it is broke. On the bright side, when those kiosks go down, the bus drivers usually just wave me on when I flash my rendered-useless Translink card. Playing these odds probably works out in your favor when compared to the ever-inflating MUNI pass prices.
“I wonder if it says “Goodbye!” after it’s done with your transaction.”
Funny you should say that.
When my co-worker was filling up his Translink card, the machine said “dialing” for a few minutes, and finally “connected.”
Then I yelled out “Welcome! You’ve got mail!”
By “1980″ did you mean “2010″? Most stand-alone ATM machines still use dial-up connections. Look it up.
I’m also willing to bet that you meant 1990 – I doubt you had a beep-beep-boop-boop modem during the 80s.
It’s funny when people who don’t know much about technology have opinions about technology. And by “funny” I mean “annoying”.
I assume most places have them muted, but I IIRC, you can actually hear Toronado’s ATM dialing and connecting.
If by “stand alone” ATMs you mean the kind outside of a liquor store, then sure. But who uses those? I mean, it’s like giving your debit card and PIN to a hooker or drug dealer. You don’t know where it’s going.
But come on, we both know that legit ATMs (the kind at banks) have been on ISDN since the 90′s.
I can’t type faster than v.21 anyway. Where’s my acoustic coupler, dammit?
ha…I bet you could type faster than v.21 though, especially in UTF-8.
Verisign still maintains an analog-modem based authentication network, a lot of small businesses still rely on it – it’s definitely not an outdated technology.
TransLink gets shit on for lots of reasons, many of them deserved. But this isn’t one of them, alls I’m saying.
Old School — no, it’s a valid reason! I can add money to my Bart pass in significantly less time than it takes to use the stupid Translink machine, then why would I use it?
I know it’s only a couple minutes, but that could be the difference between catching your train and missing it, especially if there’s a line.