Amtrak Trading Old-Timey Ticket-Punchers For iPhone Scanners

Central to Amtrak's charm is that taking a train still makes you feel like a human being, rather than flying veal. You can show up 2 minutes before the train pulls out of the station, there's ample legroom and space to move around (dining car!), everyone isn't breathing recycled rage-air, and a friendly person takes your ticket and gives it a punch. However, you'll see less of that bygone ritual this summer, when 1,700 conductors will start using iPhones to scan tickets.

The Times explains that electronic scanning is more complicated on trains because passengers hop on and off the train at many different points, unlike airlines where everyone bleats to be let into the same, sad tube to the plane. The new system will allow conductors to know immediately if there are additional seats available (which you can purchase onboard with Amtrak's iPhone app), but sadly they won't be able to scramble your seatmate's iPad from playing reruns of One Tree Hill.