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I'm Drew Breunig and I obsess about technology, media, language, and culture. I live in New York, studied anthropology, and work in advertising technology.Twitter

These are reactions to things I feel are important.

NYC will no longer require Taxi TV 

Respite!

In a nod to years of griping from captive passengers, taxi officials agreed to let the owners of the new cabs decide whether to install the screens, which are required in the city’s 13,000 yellow taxis.

“With Taxi TV, there’s a diversity of opinion as to the value for passengers,” David S. Yassky, the taxi and limousine commissioner, said rather delicately. “So it makes more sense to leave it up to the taxi owners.”

Translation: no one liked them except for the media companies who drove their adoption. File Taxi TV with QR codes, Cuecat, mobile TV, TV check-in apps and other products spurred by marketing and media company desires rather than actual consumer demand or use cases.

I’d argue NFC payments (in their current form) fall under this umbrella as well. But that’s a longer post. (Via NYT)

68 notesShowHide

  1. nyclimo reblogged this from newsweek
  2. the-idea-of-us reblogged this from adeandabet
  3. twkestrel reblogged this from newsweek and added:
    FUCKING FINALLY YESSSSS \o/
  4. notnadia reblogged this from newsweek and added:
    Oh sweet merciful God, thank you. THANK YOU!
  5. wendyhopkins reblogged this from newsweek
  6. fshk reblogged this from newsweek and added:
    Thank goodness. Those stupid TVs are like Instant Give-Erin-Carsickness Machines. Sure, you can turn them off, but I...
  7. sheercalculatedsilliness reblogged this from newsweek and added:
    My favorite feature of taxi tv is when you turn it off and the off screen is the exact same “programming”
  8. caterpillarcowboy reblogged this from newsweek and added:
    QR codes can’t disappear fast enough. I can’t think of anything with this much hype that has such horrible design. It...
  9. michellereneepaul reblogged this from newsweek and added:
    I am personally offended by the above comparison of (ultra-annoying) Taxi TV to my beloved (unfairly maligned) QR codes....
  10. terenceinmonochrome reblogged this from newsweek
  11. theoverthrowshow reblogged this from newsweek
  12. rachelfershleiser said: Humblebrag?
  13. rebeccalando reblogged this from evangotlib and added:
    The most uncomfortable experience of my life was when I climbed into a cab, super drunk, alone, at like 4am one awful...
  14. theoneandonlyjarrett reblogged this from newsweek and added:
    Drunk in Taxi: “where the fuck is off button?” Every. Single. Time.
  15. adeandabet reblogged this from biteofpythias and added:
    Good point. I hate the TV, but maybe they could make it a more passive/opt-in media center. Instead of immediately...