SadTech and Lines

A technology is considered "sad" if stories about it will make future generations of people laugh at us. My favorite author writes a blog called SadTech where he rants about how the technology we're stuck with today leads to unnecessary discomfort, tackling subjects from automobiles to obesity.

I thought of a SadTech topic myself: lines. Think about how sad our typical modern implementation of the line is:

The place where the line forms is unable to deal with people as quickly as they arrive. This fact is sad in itself.

You often don't know how long of a wait to expect until you arrive at the location and it's impractical to leave and come back. With each visit you are gambling an unknown amount of your time.

You actually have to stand in a physical line, slowly inching forward. This can become tiring and uncomfortable.

During the wait, you are neither being productive nor being entertained.

The purpose of the line is to ensure that people receive service in the order that they arrive. But this is just a concept, and it's ridiculous that people are still being forced to act it out by arranging their bodies in a physical line. It's about time for cell phones to support a system of monitoring your place in line for you.