On Wed, 18 Oct 2006 00:36:40 +0100, Joyce Whitchurch wrote:

A standalone reader - one not attached to a gate - has a dot-matrix LCD
screen that displays some simple text. In standby mode it says
something like "READY" - once you do touch in it has a two line display
saying "DEDUCTED £1.00 / BALANCE £5.50" for example. There is also a
separate light that is normally yellow which will turn to green if you
successfully touch-in/out.

This is the bit that I don't get. My impression, from occasional very
hurried forays into the Metropolis, is that /some/ and by no means /all/
Oyster readers have this kind of display. Most have nothing. Perhaps I'm
missing them, perhaps I just don't know where to look. But when I'm
fleeing like the White Rabbit into the depths of t'Underground, the only
thing I really notice is whether the wretched gate opens or not.

Standalone readers (not at ticket gates) have a small LCD screen. The
newer ticket gates display the numbers on their main screen (where the
green arrow is). The readers on the older gates generally have an LCD
screen by the reader, although I'm fairly sure I've seen some that
don't have this (i.e. there's no display at all).

What I would /like/ to see is something that tells me how much money
I've just thrown away. At the ticket barrier, as I commence my journey.
It's not rocket science, surely?

No it's not, it's harder - as you commence your journey, the system
would need to be psychic to know how much it's going to cost...