On Monday, December, 14th, 2009, I wrote an article about the new technology at the Phönix. I told you about the new, intelligent chip surrounded by plastics (green on the picture) called Coin which now regulates my entry, closes my locker and monitors the time I am staying as part of a highly complex electronic system. And for which I have to pay 40 Euros if I mislay it.
I was particularly sceptical about the elaborate electronics on the lockers. Much of it is hidden in the black box. Incidentally, most of it is located in a far-from-small box on the inside of the blue door (you cannot see it on this picture).
All this just for bolting a simple locker. For reasons of environmental preservation, it is all supplied with energy by a small rechargeable battery (!). It is supposed to be good for three years, after which time it will have to be recharged. However, quite possibly three years from now the technology will be obsolete.
Now, the electronics are a little more than a year old. During the open-air season, between May, 15th and September, 13, I never went to the expensive Phönix. Instead, I always went swimming out in the open air with my seasonal ticket.
But now we are back into the cold and dark part of the year and during those eight months, I go swimming regularly at the Phönix. And I discovered on one of my first visits: the new electronics system does not (or no longer) like me.
I insert my chip into the yellow slot of the nearest vacant locker. As a reply, I get three “beeps”. So I look for another locker.
Later, I ask the bath attendant how the electronic system is doing. His face darkens. He says it is a nuisance all the time. Between 10 and 15 lockers have to be replaced each week. That is the minimum number – so he says.
Is this electronic overkill – not just in the public swimming pools – really necessary? Or do they only do it because it is modern?
Allegedly, our Capital City has robust plastic chips with holes that do the scanning on a purely mechanical basis. And the Unterhaching open-air pool still has the good old keys, where a 1 Euro or 2 Euro coin will suffice as a deposit for the key. And the keys seldom disappear.
Both sound like simple, intelligent and economical solutions to me.
RMD
(Translated by EG)
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