MyAppleMenu

The Forgoing-Cash Edition Sunday, July 31, 2016

Where A Suitcase Full Of Cash Won’t Buy You Lunch, by Gloria Dawson, New York Times

Although America is far from becoming a cashless society, cash transactions are less frequent than even a few years ago and some restaurant owners are betting that customers will be comfortable doing away with cash for convenience. [...] In a cash-free environment, employees are also safer, Mr. Neman said. There have been only a handful of thefts and robberies since Sweetgreen has been in business, but he said he believed that going cashless deterred thieves. “I don’t think anyone’s coming in to steal arugula.”

Forgoing cash is not without obstacles, though. Many Americans still use cash by choice or because they have no alternative.

Catch 'Em All

On A Rain-soaked, Muddy Mall, Hundreds Converge To Hunt For Pokémon, by Elise Schmelzer, Washington Post

The family of four from Bryans Road, Md., has taken evening trips to the District, Annapolis and National Harbor to hunt Pokémon that live in different places. It’s an easy way to meet people and strike up conversations, said Ryan Soens, the father.

“There’s just a really good vibe everywhere,” he said. “We like the camaraderie and the community.”

New Owner, New Customers

Yahoo And The Online Universe According To Verizon, by David Gelles, New York Times

Still, there is a surprisingly ambitious, and risky, unifying theme hidden in the oddball assortment of websites and internet services that Verizon has acquired over the last year or so: The company is rethinking who its customer actually is.

It is imagining a future when its most important client may not be a mother signing up for a family cellphone plan in the Verizon store. Instead, the customer will be corporations — advertisers — that want to reach that family, and that are willing to pay Verizon to help them do so.

Words Across Seas

Words With (I Wish We Were More Than) Friends, by Justin Race, New York Times

The next night was no different, and I realized I had to start getting this down on paper. When a game ended, our chats from that game ended with it. Every 45 minutes or so, everything would disappear, and I wanted to preserve all of it, proof that such things are possible, and at any age.

After a week, I told my best friend back East what was happening. She told me a story about a co-worker who had an online relationship with a woman for two years. Now they are married. I laughed it off and thanked her, but I told her I had no illusions.

German Airline Allows Passengers To Fly With Extra Books, by Nicholas Politan, Electric Lit

Essentially, each passenger is allowed an extra kg of carry-on weight so as to be able to fit that recent Man Booker finalist or dystopian YA trilogy in their luggage.

Words On The Screen

The Typography Of ‘Stranger Things’, by Sarah Gless, Nelson Cash

The Stranger Things title sequence is pure, unadulterated typographic porn. With television shows opting for more elaborate title sequences (think GOT and True Detective), the opening of Stranger Things is refreshingly simple. It trims the fat and shows only what is necessary to set the mood. More importantly, it proves a lesson I’ve learned time and time again as a designer: you can do a lot with type.

Bottom of the Page

Are Pen Pals still a thing? Or do they have a new name, like Twitter?

~

Thanks for reading.