John B wrote:


If you've never used any kind of machine in your life, perhaps:
however, if you've successfully managed to buy a Mars bar or a condom
from a vending machine, the Tube machines are hardly a complex
development on that.

I take it that you've never actually tried to use a modern ticket
machine then. You're lucky. Trust me, they're a _lot_ more complex
than a chocolate vending machine. At least the NR ones at my local
station are. I assume the TfL ones are just as bad.

You see, chocolate machines usually just list half-a-dozen or so
different types of chocolate bars, clearly marked, each one with its own
button. You press the button to choose the type of bar you want. Nice
and simple.

Sadly, they've phased out the ticket vending machines that have
different buttons for each destination, and replaced them with those
awful new ones with touch screens. Not that it's obvious that they're
touch screens. The very first time you use one, you're looking you
waste a lot of time looking for some mouse-style thing to control it!
Once you've finally figured out what's going on, then the nightmare can
really begin.

The ticket you want is _never_ on the quick list on the first screen.
You select the "More destinations" button icon. It's usually not on the
second screen either. You select "Station finder A-Z". A keyboard pops
up on screen, but it's the wrong size, shape and angle for touch
typists. Pecking at each letter in turn, you type out the name of your
destination.

As you type, the list of stations above it gets whittled down until
there's only one left matching what you typed. You then have to select
that one. Why!?! If it's the only one matching, it's obviously the
only one you could want. Why do they make you do extra work by
selecting it? It should just select itself automatically.

Anyway, once that's done, you're presented with a list of ticket types
and routes, that can be _very_ confusing if you don't know exactly what
you want. For example, on Sundays it still offers a ticket from Gipsy
Hill to Belvedere, route Not London, despite the fact that there doesn't
seem to be any obvious way of doing that journey with the Sunday
services! The machine makes no attempt to suggest which ticket is
likely to be best or most appropriate for your journey, the way a human
clerk should.

Better still, shoot all the machines and replace them with more human
clerks. That would be a big improvement.

If by "improvement" you mean "extremely expensive way of making things
slower and more complex for regular travellers", then you're
absolutely right.

It's _much_ quicker and less complex to ust say "Return, Belvedere,
please," than all that messing about with the touch screens.