h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My phone broke last night, I put it on to charge like I always do and yet this morning there was no life in it. Totally dead.

So, I decided to stop procrastinating and buy a new one. My phone wasn't that old, almost two years. But it's a HTC HD2, which means it's running Windows Mobile 6.5 which they've kindly decided to stop supporting. So I need a new phone. I've got a wildfire as my spare phone, which is what I'm currently typing on, but it's small. So I decided to go along to the 3 store, get a new phone and a new contract with them rather than with O2, because the O2 coverage sucks, they lied about the contract i took out with them and they failed to notify me when my contract ran out like they promised. So I had a chat with the bloke at the 3 store, discussing the pros and cons of the three phones I was thinking of, the Galaxy S2, the new Nexus, and the HTC Sensation XL. I decided on the XL. We then went to sort out the paper work so I could leave happy with my shiney new phone.

One small problem, I had no photo id on me. I have an old style UK driving licence, no photo, and I don't carry it around anyway. And why would I carry my passport around? We don't leave in a police state. Yet it seems that if I want to buy a phone with contract in a shop, I need photo ID. If I was to buy it online however, just a credit card would suffice. So, online where you can't even prove whether or not I'm a real person, that's okay. But in person, in the shop, I have to go through I'D checks.

Is it any wonder they say the high street is dying? The internet isn't killing the high street, it's just sitting on the sidelines watching it kill itself.

On the other side of that, is it any wonder online credit card fraud is so rampant?

A very good point.

It kinda shows though the revailing thought that if it's done online it must be secure.

Yet, there I was in flesh and blood needing photo ID to say "Yes, that's me"

I had a similar experience a few years ago. I wanted to pay for something with my debit card. When I presented it I was asked for my ID, which in these parts means your driving licence. I don't have one so I had to walk to the nearest hole in the wall and get cash, which I was going to do anyway, but it's a bit of a schlepp there and back.

The irony of this whole thing is what I was trying to buy - a monthly bus pass. I use the buses because, like most other bus passengers, I don't drive! And yet I can order a bus pass online with a debit or credit card, no questions asked

Hmmm - I wouldn't call Germany a police state, but (thanks to the Allies, post-war), every German is required to carry ID at all times from the age of 16. So we all have handy wallet-sized ID cards that even function as a passport within the EU. No driving required.

Elektra has a 'walking licence'. (They don't make her take a test, though they should...)

"The internet isn't killing the high street, it's just sitting on the sidelines watching it kill itself."


that's my nomination for quote of the week!

Northern Ireland's not a police state either, but having ID's often a good idea. I always have my passport on me - I'm not sure why. I think I get a superstitious kind of comfort from knowing I could skip out of the country whenever I feel like it.