It is time to make another wish for an App. Our previous one from late 2012, Coming soon: PanHandling App for #IPhone and #Android, did well, so here here is what we need now.
An App that beats the awful timeouts some web sites impose on users when you make a purchase.
The idea first came during the time when we bought tickets to music shows at a steady pace, often twice a month, sometimes even more often. The latest mention of the phenomenon is on today's The Guardian in a piece that tells us the tickets for the Glastonbury 2016 festival sold out in 25 minutes.
Yes, that was a long time ago, when LiveNation was still a thing and you could hate and avoid TiecktMaster altogether.
Today, you can only hate it and probably not avoid it altogether.
Anyhow, at some point, the big ticketing sites seemed to become fascinated by timeouts, those set durations for completing a purchase. Session timeouts (that's how purchase timeouts are typically implemented) are a good and necessary feature, be it to avoid accidentally remaining logged on to a "cheaters" portal or to avoid your kids reading your email.
But, as with all good things, purchase timeouts don't seem to be designed with the user/the purchaser in mind.
How else can you explain a timeout of two minutes from the start of clicking on "buy ticket" to the anxiously awaited confirmation screen?
The comment by the famously grouchy K-Landnews TheEditor was: "Social fucking Darwinism. Do these peeps think we are all fantastically fast from years of First Person Shooter games? And what about the millions of Americans stuck with slow dial-up or Satellite internet?"
Oh, you say that's not a problem because some ticket sites store payment and address information if you create an account on the sites?
What if I don't want to have accounts on ten or more web sites across half the country?
What if I don't want my precious data sit there for years just waiting to be hacked?
So, is there an App for that?
I know, I should have searched to see if one exists, but no, I don't feel like wading through what must be a bazillion apps. By the way, the blogster uses bazillion as a unit for a set of numbers between 100 and infinity.
What the app should do
It should help fill out the two important forms on show or festival ticketing sites,which are the payment info and the shipping info (if needed).
These sites are the worst offenders and do not seem willing to add a "continue" button as you approach the timeout.
Travel portals seem to have wised up to the fact that hand eye coordination and memory in the over 30 crowd make a feature for extending timeouts a good idea.
An alternative solution
We are aware of a time tested alternative solution which consists in typing all the recurring information, like card details and address into a text editor or word processor and then copy and paste as much as possible. But hey, you still want an app, don't you? For the kicks of it.
While we are bitching about event ticket sales, it would be really nice if the big sites could do a few user friendly things.
Sales in batches
Offset by a few days and within a day, some starting early, some late. This would be wonderful for international sales (timezones, baby) as well as for domestic sales (shift workers).
I can understand that, for example, Glastonbury fans from the middle of Siberia might feel a sense of accomplishment when they successfully stay up late and manage to get a ticket.
On the other hand, being tired from staying up late increases the likelihood of typos and being hit by a timeout.
For shift workers or people who simply cannot be there for the 30 minute window, sales in batches would be the socially responsible and nice thing to do.
The psychological benefits are priceless, too.
And you Glastonbury and other big name event peeps
Do a lottery with some of the tickets. How difficult can that be? Not difficult, I know.
Again, show that you have a heart and that you care for those not fast enough or not available during the mad rush.
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