Bloody Pirate presents ☠

Here's why I bang on about smartphones... I went to a gig recently with a friend. I bought tickets through Ticketmaster, and the confirmation email said my tickets would be available in their app. I contacted customer support to explain that I don't have a smartphone. They responded saying that I could go to the help desk at the venue, with ID, proof of purchase and my payment card to get the tickets. So on the night, I did just that, but the person on the desk panicked, saying that this wasn't possible as they don't have a printer. I said: "So what are you going to do? How are you going to handle it?" I enjoyed making her sweat for a few moments until she asked my friend if they have a smartphone. My friend instinctively said "yes" and the tickets were transferred to that phone. The thing is... it was inconvenient for me to push back against the necessity to have an app, but I HAD to do it. See, if no-one does, then there will soon be absolutely no option for those who don't want to carry an app-laden pocket computer at every moment. I had hoped, during my years of stubborn belligerence, that more people would push back, but they didn't. And we're now almost at a point where you'll not be able to bank, fly or attend events without a smartphone... and... *psssstttt*... your smartphone is effectively already your digital ID.