A rather common theme around here is how often various industries resist the use of new technologies, fearing that those technologies will somehow harm or even destroy the industry. And yet, before too long, the opposite turns out to be true. Remember how Jack Valenti declared the VCR to be the “Boston Strangler” to the movie industry? Just a few years later, revenue from VCR rentals and sales represented a massive part of the movie business’s yearly income. It happens over and over again. The NY Times has a different kind of example of the same basic thing. Two years ago, Mayor Bloomberg in NY pushed for taxis to be required to take credit cards. The cabbies resisted, complaining that it would cause all sorts of problems. They even went on strike over the issue.
And yet, two years later, having easy to use credit card readers in the back of every cab means that more people are taking cabs, because it’s easier, and they tend to tip more as well. Part of that is because the machines have “preset” tip suggestions that many riders use, which often result in higher tips than average. While the article still quotes a few angry cab drivers who insist that higher tips aren’t true, the reporter was able to review the receipts from a few cabs and found that the average tip was 18%, with the preset tip suggestions being used more than half the time. While it’s still early, it certainly seems like this was yet another overreaction to new technology that has actually ended up helping, rather than hurting.
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