This wasn’t supposed to be a documentary:
Ugh. In the novel, they killed her and said she was still alive- a recluse. If I’m remembering correctly.
Also:
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If a thief steals my credit card, I can replace it. WTF am I gonna do if they steal my hands?
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And Amazon knows who ordered the barrel-size of lube.
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I’ve been to a couple places that said they didn’t take cash. I couldn’t figure that one out. I get people not wanting to take cards - to avoid taxes or avoid credit card company fees. But who doesn’t like cash!?
Found an article about it: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2017/12/25/nyregion/no-cash-money-cashless-credit-debit-card.amp.html
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Just think of those 4 seconds you’ll save!!
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At least with a password, you can opt-out when presented with the wrench method.
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this 
also, why not just 3d print a version of someone’s hand using the same sort of technology necessary to scan it in the first place?
if they believe it’ll work because everyone is going to play nice; they really should just issue ious.
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My dad worked in a datacenter and in secured areas he had to badge in and put his hand on a scanner that took a photo of the back of his hand. It was quite secure and occasionally would refuse him entry if he had a bruise or recently trimmed his nails. It was good enough for a company that makes the world’s most used desktop operating system and was sued by the EU for bundling the browser.
This was back in 2002 btw. I can only assume it’s gotten much better and now includes things like surface vein mapping (doable with the IR sensitivity of a lot of COTS cameras)
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in theory, you don’t have to worry about employees skimming from the till. plus there’s no drawer to count in or out for each shift. no drawer or safe worth robbing.
enough people already don’t use cash, that cash can be a hassle.
and really the prices at most stores have already been adjusted to take into account the cost of credit. ( b/c visa, et al. lobbied to make it illegal to charge extra for credit. )
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I’m over 50 and I’m more likely to forget my wallet then my smartphone. Because I use the latter more.
Then again, I pay with my watch, so in cash-happens Germany this covers only 80 to 90% of my shopping. And only because I rarely use fast food or bakeries.
What happens when you are on a medication that changes your hand size and shape? Or you break your fingers or arm and are stuck in splints or a cast?
Amazon is obsessed with saving seconds, and that means cutting corners, and they actually have caused people to die.
This is just another scheme where they don’t actually care if it’s safe or secure (admittedly, this is probably less likely to be lethal) so long as it’s fast.
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I don’t know the rates in the US, but in Europe the cost of cash and credit card are roughly the same, at least when your average sale is around 5 € or so. It’s probably more expensive for the merchant in the us, otherwise credit card companies couldn’t offer these insane cash back incentives.
Illegal to charge more: true in the EU, but we capped the interchange fees to 0.3% for credit and 0.2% to debit, which is the part the credit card companies and banks get. A payment provider will add his fees to that, but those don’t are facto monopolies like MasterCard and VISA and their issuers hold.
But their contracts with vendors already stipulated a “can’t charge more” clauses. As far as I’m aware they never got successfully challenged in courts.
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Up until a few years ago, most corner shops near where I live would have signs out saying 50 cents extra for credit/debit sales less than $5.00. Legit grocery stores, and restaurants, franchises etc never charged extra, but things like 7-11 and mom and pop corner stores and head shops would.
I’ve googled a bit and apparently the “surcharges forbidden by contract” have been successfully challenged in courts, at least for some states. But it’s legal to allow discounts for cash.
But I guess that card companies didn’t really care for enforcement at small stores anyway.
Do it. And always bring a handful of invalid coupons.
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Small stores near me only accept credit if the purchase price exceeds a nominal amount. often $15-$20. So no surcharge. just a denial of service.
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Yes, that was often done over here, too. Even in cash crazy Germany it’s going the way of the dodo. The only places i see it are low-margin enterprises, like small local zoos.
Everyone else either takes only cash or treats both cash and cards the same.
The internal code-name was probably Orwell, they had to change it when they announced it to the public.
