Editor's Blog: Tech improves... but we don't?

Of traffic meters and check-in queues

So often we think a change will take place because a technology has finally come of age to allow it to happen. How wrong we are. Time and time again we see that people also have to be ready to embrace changes.

I was struck this week by two examples, one that has been in the news and another that I experienced first hand.

You may have heard about Westminster Council in the centre of London rolling out a parking meter system that relies on drivers paying using their mobile phones. There's a convenience factor here, for sure - no more scrambling for the right change (and believe me, you need quite a lot of it in that part of the country, even for the briefest of stops).

But also don't forget how much councils have lost to parking meter fraud. The figure alone for Westminster was over £1m last year. It's smash and grab at its simplest - attracting organised crime to boot.

Benefits for the drivers, benefits for the council - who wouldn't think this is a win-win? The council even cites research showing a large majority of drivers who say they would like this form of payment. I know I would.

But what of those who aren't comfortable with payments over a mobile? (Do we still call that m-commerce?) What of those who don't have a mobile at all? They do exist.

I think people will overwhelmingly be ready for this development. The technology, we know, is there and we've probably passed a tipping point. Good luck to Westminster, which has proved innovative in the use of IT for some years now, in various fields.

Also coming to terms with driving efficiency and customers getting a better experience is the airline industry. It is well-documented how major airlines are trying to put more self-service in place, which usually means more tech and fewer staff. Yesterday I had a lesson of how it can go wrong.

I was at Heathrow Terminal 3, dropping off my sister, who was returning to the US using Virgin Atlantic. It became clear there is still a gap between many people's expectations at an airport and the reality.

Many people expect - to generalise massively - a mix of economy, business and first class, to use the generic terms, when they get to an airline's counters. Forget that Virgin doesn't even employ that division, having its Premium Economy and Upper Class (a groovy combination of business and first) as well as regular economy.

Its division within economy was confusing a number of people.

It had regular economy check-in (a nightmare of a snaking queue), online check-in (for those who checked in over the web and were arriving for 'bag drop') and DIY check-in, whereby passengers use a kiosk to get checked in, print up a boarding pass and then go to 'bag drop'.

My sister used the last option, which was good, because the lines for it and the web-based check-in were much shorter. Airlines, unsurprisingly, want to shift passengers to these channels - and when they work I'm all for it.

However, the 'bag drop' I keep referencing was nothing of the sort. It took forever and I wondered whether many of those in the newer types of check-in queue knew what they were doing.

Yet again, a case of technology and process advancing a bit ahead of user expectations. At least the ground crew were doing their best to keep things moving.

And spare a thought for one older American lady who was truly confused. She walked straight up to my sister and asked: "What's DIY?" Add cultural confusion to that list of obstacles.