What a strange comment.AF62 wrote:Phones running out of charge - not these days; they enter a low power mode to prevent this type of thing. As for freezing or malfunctioning, then you could equally say for paper documents that they could get wet, get torn, spontaneously combust, etc.Lootman wrote: There are other things that can go wrong with a phone even if no signal is needed. It can run out of charge. It can freeze. It can malfunction.
The sort of country that has the type of border officials who ignore the rules and make life difficult for travellers (probably in the hope of a backhander) are not the sort of countries I generally travel to.Lootman wrote:There is also the possibility that some countries may insist on seeing original paper documents.
I came to Italy two days ago and, as usual, it was obvious that the overworked people on the desks far prefer to have a piece of paper in their hands than having to squint at a small screen wobbling about in front of their eyes.
That's even before we get onto the elderly people who have only just mastered laptops, yet alone smartphones!
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It is so obvious when you're in the queue that a sheet of paper is far preferable to wasting time with a mobile phone.
I was through both security checks (Covid & passport) extremely quickly, by offering whatever sheets of paper they wanted, and moving on very quickly. From the number of people exiting the airport, I had the impression that all the young italians with their telofonini were taking a long time to exit and just annoying the guards.
Steve
PS The only time we gave a backhander was in Tanzania, though it was just a 'gift' of about 5 dollars to make our transit a little easier. I have never encountered anything similar, even in other third world airports.... like Luton!
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