View From the Phlipside Radio - Feed the Beast

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, radio, the movies and more.  I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View from the Phlipside.

This story is probably of more than casual interest to me for a personal reason.  The building where I work spent most of last week with its parking lot being re-paved.  It desperately needed it but it was a real hassle because this meant I had to find parking in downtown Jamestown.  I probably should have just parked in the Cherry Street ramp (which I can see from the building) but thought I could get by parking on the street.  Till I got caught up and didn’t get out to the meter fast enough.  Busted.  The good news is I was given just a warning ticket first and so rescued myself before it cost me any money.

Parenthetically I bear no ill will towards the parking meter officers.  They’re just doing their jobs and you don’t get a ticket unless you break the law.  But I am glad that our parking lot is back in operation right now.

However if Jamestown were to move to the new technology being used in Atlanta and Washington DC and about to be tested in New York City I would not have had to race down the stairs and out the door to feed the meter.  Those cities have begun using high tech meters that allow you to put money in the via your cellphone.  That’s right, there’s an app for that.

You do an online registration then you can feed your meter from your phone.  The meters would still take coins or credit cards (yes there are many parking meters that take plastic apparently).  You don’t even need a smart phone to use the system since you can just send a text message.  All you have to do is take note of your meters number (can you say cell phone camera?) and you’re off and running.

There are still some things that folks won’t like.  For example for meters in limited parking zones it would be even harder to try and game the system.  It relies on everything working properly and we know how often that doesn’t happen.  While the system could refund you any unused time it probably still won’t.  And if you forget to send the message you could still end up with a ticket.

But on a rainy day or a cold and snowy February day being able to stand inside your nice warm office or house and just punch a few buttons to feed the beast I’m betting this will be a very popular form of technology.

Call that the View From the Phlipside