This week’s Mediahuis Irish regional newspapers’ column.
Michael Commane
I imagine most people have experienced frustration and annoyance with their mobile phones, apps, WiFi connection and everything else in the world of technology that has become part of our daily lives.
A friend of mine had me in roars of laughter last week relating a weekend away that was meant to have been a break for him.
He is a recent convert to rail travel and up to now all has gone to plan, indeed, he has been greatly impressed with public transport. He lives in the south-west and drives his car to his rail station, which is approximately a 50-minute-drive away.
He recently bought a new super-duper iPhone. He discovered that it was easy-peasy to transfer all the data/information from his old phone to his new one.
It was just a matter of placing the new phone beside the old phone, which would tell all to the new phone.
But it wasn’t as straightforward as that, as it ended up a shouting match between the two phones. ‘I became a suspect and was fingerprinted,’ he smiles.
Eventually he got the phone working and headed for his weekend away in the midlands. He had extra luggage with him so he was taking his car to his destination and then planned to travel on to Dublin by rail from Thurles.
En route to Thurles he went to book his ticket on his new phone only to discover that Irish Rail would not accept his browser and told him to download the Irish Rail app. Off he goes to the app store, where he is asked for his password, which he couldn’t remember.
More hoops to go through but eventually he manages to book his rail ticket from Thurles to Dublin. He arrives in Thurles with little time to spare so he had no option but to park the car and pay the fare online when on the train.
More trouble, another download and then the WiFi cuts out as he had not registered with the Irish Rail WiFi. He registers and gets his WiFi back.
All’s going well until he’s asked for the registration number of his car, which he doesn’t know. He finds it somewhere else on his phone. And then he’s asked for the code number of Thurles rail station, which he eventually finds.
Just one more hoop, payment needs to be authorised by his bank. He’s told to go into the bank app and swipe for approval. Eventually, a message appears on his phone ‘success’, he could not believe it.
Time to snooze. He lies back in the seat, closes his eyes and relaxes, that is, until he hears a voice on the train PA system, welcoming customers on the 12.17 Thurles Cork Irish Rail service, serving Limerick Junction, Charleville and Mallow with a connection at Mallow for Banteer, Millstreet, Rathmore, Killarney, Farranfore and Tralee.
But he wanted to go to Dublin. Not familiar with Thurles station, in a rush, negotiating with his phone and all its apps he landed on the wrong platform, saw a train, presumed it was his, boarded, took his seat and spent the next few minutes working his phone.
All done and delighted with himself, he sat back, planning to relax for the next 75 minutes. Or so he thought.
But how come his new phone didn’t tell him he was on the wrong platform? I thought they know everything about us and our movements.
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