Technology gap
I am bemused at how the assumption is that San Francisco, the Silicon Valley and the Bay Area are widely presumed to have superior consumer and other technology. I keep recalling two comparisons to the place we used to live - DC and Northern Virginia suburbs.
1. NoVa have FIOS! SF does not, not a good analogy! We don't need a landline or cable TV, FIOS was a relatively good choice in quantity and quality. And I realize it's because AT&T is the big brother of SF phones-n-stuff, but I thought Verizon has a presence here as well. Anyway, here, we initially went with a measured rate AT&T phone and some DSL company. Now we switched to a better-quality DSL that somehow takes over from AT&T for the landline, but I'm not clear on the specifics and we have turned off the phone ringer and voicemail anyway.
2. Giant (an East Coast supermarket) has an app that allows you to scan groceries as you take them off the shelf and put them in your bag. I haven't seen this in any local store, comparable or better. And even their self-checkout works better - you scan the items, then put them on the belt where they are weighed and spilled into a packaging area. Here, you scan each item, then put it on a weighing stand where you are supposed to package it with any others. Using your own bags frequently messes up the weighing, and even when not using them the computer frequently screams at you that you are wrong and must perform some sort of complicated penance to right it all. I seriously switched from self-checkout to human cashiers after a few experiences in CA, plus they're not any faster here!
And no, we don't have good public Wi-Fi everywhere! Not even in the most logical areas. But I still totally prefer living in SF.
1. NoVa have FIOS! SF does not, not a good analogy! We don't need a landline or cable TV, FIOS was a relatively good choice in quantity and quality. And I realize it's because AT&T is the big brother of SF phones-n-stuff, but I thought Verizon has a presence here as well. Anyway, here, we initially went with a measured rate AT&T phone and some DSL company. Now we switched to a better-quality DSL that somehow takes over from AT&T for the landline, but I'm not clear on the specifics and we have turned off the phone ringer and voicemail anyway.
2. Giant (an East Coast supermarket) has an app that allows you to scan groceries as you take them off the shelf and put them in your bag. I haven't seen this in any local store, comparable or better. And even their self-checkout works better - you scan the items, then put them on the belt where they are weighed and spilled into a packaging area. Here, you scan each item, then put it on a weighing stand where you are supposed to package it with any others. Using your own bags frequently messes up the weighing, and even when not using them the computer frequently screams at you that you are wrong and must perform some sort of complicated penance to right it all. I seriously switched from self-checkout to human cashiers after a few experiences in CA, plus they're not any faster here!
And no, we don't have good public Wi-Fi everywhere! Not even in the most logical areas. But I still totally prefer living in SF.