McDonald’s installs phone cleaning devices.
The systems operate on the basis of ultraviolet technology.
These systems, powered by ultraviolet technology, destroy up to 99.9% of germs within 30 seconds while customers wash their hands.
So im no tech expert but a couple issues i see off the bat:
- relying on a mechanism to pull in and spit out your phone seems ripe for a failure where the phone gets jammed/caught/sterliser breaks mid-operation and your phone is stuck. Maybe instead have a shelf that you put you phone on and then a cover just swings/drops over it but you can physically just lift the cover up to remove the phone.
- entry slot is in the surface of the bench, directly next to the sink, where any overflow or splashing will have water drop directly down into steriliser and phone.
- having a device in a public place (with no cameras, because bathroom) is a perfect place for someone malicious to affix a NFC (or similar tech) scanner to read data from/send data to your phone.
For every country I’ve lived in outside of Japan, I think these would be valid concerns.
Was going to say, it seems as though people in Japan, just use tech differently.
I found that people are more group-minded in Japan. Television and schools have less emphasis on direct punishment (like getting removed from the classroom and receiving detention), and a greater one on humiliation (like getting singled out by your teacher for something to be laughed at by your classmates).
In the west, comedians who say/do really naughty things that would get them in trouble get a lot of laughs because of its absurdity (and they risk getting in trouble). You often see a lot of disclaiming in western standup. In Japan, it’s the comedians who act in humiliating ways that get more laughs. Interestingly enough, you frequently see angry tantrums as something to laugh at. So if you want to be a funny person, you don’t break things, you do something to humiliate yourself. Otherwise, if you lash out in anger for any reason, you might get laughed at.
So with regards to vandalizing a sanitation machine in a McDonalds, unless it’s a specific trend on TikTok, I just don’t think a vandal would get much out of it.
IT guy here, the NFC thing isn’t really a concern (NFC doesn’t work that way) or for that matter, any other wireless technology, as it’ll need to authenticate with your phone somehow. If you can somehow simply scan data from a phone without any form of authentication, that would be a massive security hole - something that would be patched by the vendors real quick. Also, if something like that were possible then the TSA/FBI wouldn’t have any issues pulling data from locked phones. Think of all the times you’ve had to put your phone thru the xray machines at the airports. Also see the case of FBI vs Apple for instance.
The other issues you’ve mentioned are valid though. Heck my Galaxy Fold won’t even fit in that slot.
That’s really cool. I already foresee Americans intentionally breaking them and finding ways for people to get their phones stuck in there to be assholes and for internet likes.
Some Australian cities installed usb charging ports on their bus fleets. They were filled with chewing gum within a week
So many bathrooms in Japan don’t even have hand soap or toilet paper. I can’t possibly imagine this taking off.
?
I didn’t have this issue at all when I visited. Although maybe you’re talking more rural than touristy places…
No, I lived in Japan and have visited all over. It’s more an issue in men’s bathrooms than in women’s to not have soap, based on my conversations. In women’s bathrooms, it’s common to not have toilet paper, and people carry around tissues. This is more of a city thing than a rural thing. In the cities, people pass out tissue packets with advertisements in them (as a job) and people carry those around and use them in the restrooms.
Edit: It might be the case that places which have more tourists don’t have this problem as much. That’s still not my experience, however.
Japan is doing it No way it works here
What? Am I not understanding you correctly?
Because it’s in Japan, I’d probably use it. If this was in New York, I probably wouldn’t be in that bathroom in the first place.
That’s weird, there’s a place 10 minutes away from me (W Europe) that has them installed in the bathrooms.
It’s just a slot in which you put your phone. You wait for it to beep and you take it out again. Ideally while you’re washing your hands.
