On Mon, 12 May 2008 09:09:07 -0700 (PDT), MIG
wrote:

On 12 May, 16:01, James Farrar wrote:
On Mon, 12 May 2008 03:16:50 -0700 (PDT), MIG





wrote:
On 12 May, 00:02, James Farrar wrote:
On Sat, 10 May 2008 10:18:50 -0700 (PDT), MIG

wrote:
On May 10, 4:03*pm, Roland Perry wrote:
In message
, at
09:35:03 on Thu, 8 May 2008, MIG remarked:

Even if you happen to use
one such gate to enter the Tube system, you will still be leaving it
by a gate with a reader or a standalone target - all of which will
show you your balance.

I can't remember the last time I went in or out of an LU gate that
displayed anything at all apart from maybe "Enter" or "Exit".

The display of your balance is somewhere that you have to train yourself
to look for (otherwise you miss it), but it's there.

If it's in a position where you have to stop and lean back to peer at
a tiny display while a queue builds up behind you, as opposed to being
on the large display facility in front of you, it's not really of any
practical use. *I am sure that, even on the older gates, information
used to be given on the large display, but maybe I am imagining it.

The Oyster target should normally be in front of you when you hold the
card on it, no?

By the time it displays something, after it's read your card and the
gates are open, you would have to be behaving very oddly and
inconsiderately for it still to be in front of you.

The display shows the balance as the gates open. It's easy to read it
as you start to walk through the gate.-

It really isn't easy to read a tiny, faint display while you are
moving.

I would have to stop and peer carefully at it, and my faculties are
not particuarly degenerated.

Most people would already be past the pad, anticipating the opening of
the gates, and would never stop moving. If they did stop, someone
would walk into them and it would cause a delay.

If you're past sight of the pad, you've walked into the gate...