With the BBC's commitment to Audio Description

[John]

...is it possible to get AD in foreign languages, or is that beyond the
2020 technology. In our multicultural society, one would expect there to
be many disabled ethnics who might benefit. The Beeb must have loads of
foreign correspondents sitting around doing nothing.

[Bill Wright]

They shouldn't do this. It just encourages the ethnics to not learn English.

Bill

[Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)]

I believe its done on Apple tv plus and netflix in some cases. At the moment
bbc cannot even make a mobile app that works for AD. They did do it, but the
latest incarnation seems to have screwed it all up again.
Bah humbug.
Brian

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[Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)]

I have to say, I feel quite strongly that if you decide to settle in a
foreign country, and this applies to us abroad as well, you really should be
made to attend the course in rudimentary use of that language and culture
too. It would in the end pay major dividends. If I find another taxi driver
who cannot even read the name of a shop like superfish, I'll scream.

AD is actually quite a specialist art. Ideally the person needs to watch it
from a blind perspective and ask the question what visually is important.
Who is present, their expressions who has a gun etc. I got very annoyed on a
programme by Bryan Cox when he was explaining size relationships between
particles and the spaces between them to not have any ad on the comments
like this far and way over there etc, since this is important information,
and there was plenty of time to do it in the normal navel gazing music
between him being on top of a hill or by a river etc.

Even Dr Who has issues where they forget to tell you about things being
carried and who is in the shot.

Brian

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"Bill Wright" <wrights...@f2s.com> wrote in message
news:qvv547$vgb$1...@gioia.aioe.org...

[NY]

"John" <m...@home.org> wrote in message news:qvv2ri$p6$1...@dont-email.me...
>

How about "if you choose live in Britain you should be expected to
understand English (or Welsh, or Scots Gaelic)"?

[MB]

I agree, large amounts are already spent on translation services for
people who have not bothered to learn English.

It would cost the BBC many millions of pounds to provide such a service
(presumably other channels would not bother). What languages and how
many of them? Would that impact on the bandwidth being used?

I object already to one ethnic group having its own national radio
network, that seemed a pure political decision so perhaps the government
should fund it?

[Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)]

In the main one can understand councils having translation services as fresh
immigrants and asylum seekers may need to learn English, but I do find it a
bit annoying that many taxi drivers who have clearly been here for over 10
years cannot just invest enough time into learning the basics. It would also
aid their children if English was spoken at home. Many teachers tell me the
reinforcement of the parent speaking English not being there does make it
much harder to teach the children.
I'm not racist, but if I were a young man and intending to go to a non
English speaking country to live and work things would be a whole lot easier
if I learned the lingo.

Brian

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"MB" <M...@nospam.net> wrote in message news:qvvql6$o4k$1...@dont-email.me...

[Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)]

Being fair, English is spoken in Scotland and Wales. The national language
is a second tongue, though there are those who feel this is wrong of
course.If we do not keep some common language in a country where we have
free movement it would soon get very hard to get a job. I mean Cornish would
still be spoken widely, and goodness knows what else. In history we have had
many languages, and before schooling, there were indeed a lot still
thriving.

Brian

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"NY" <m...@privacy.invalid> wrote in message
news:qvvg36$lda$1...@dont-email.me...

[Brian Gaff (Sofa)]

In a way this is an issue that the EU has yet to solve of cours, but a lot
of EU citizens speak very good English, we need to charge foreigners a
licence to speak it to make some dosh!
grin.

Brian

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"Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)" <bri...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:r015sn$383$1...@news.albasani.net...

[Unsteadyken]

In article <r015kv$575$1...@news.albasani.net>,

Brian Gaff (Sofa 2) says...

> I do find it a
> bit annoying that many taxi drivers who have clearly been here for over 10
> years cannot just invest enough time into learning the basics.
>

Why not use a reputable company that properly vets its drivers before
letting them loose on the public?


--
Ken

[Robin]

On 19/01/2020 09:01, Brian Gaff (Sofa 2) wrote:
> Being fair, English is spoken in Scotland and Wales. The national language
> is a second tongue, though there are those who feel this is wrong of
> course.If we do not keep some common language in a country where we have
> free movement it would soon get very hard to get a job.

Very many jobs in the public sector in Wales are already classed as
"Welsh desirable" or "Welsh essential". Ireland is heading the same way.


--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

[Stephen Wolstenholme]

There are a lot of ethnics where I have lived for the last 70 years.
My experience is that most of them speak English.

Steve
--
http://www.npsnn.com

[Roderick Stewart]

On Sat, 18 Jan 2020 17:43:05 -0000, "NY" <m...@privacy.invalid> wrote:

>> ...is it possible to get AD in foreign languages, or is that beyond the
>> 2020 technology. In our multicultural society, one would expect there to
>> be many disabled ethnics who might benefit. The Beeb must have loads of
>> foreign correspondents sitting around doing nothing.
>
>How about "if you choose live in Britain you should be expected to
>understand English (or Welsh, or Scots Gaelic)"?

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Rod.

[Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)]

Desirable is not must have though, It much depends on who you are dealing
with.
I suspect with the way computer translation is going though, things may
well change in the same way as it seems the handwriting of modern school
leavers is not much of an issue any more.
Sad yes.

Brian

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"Robin" <r...@outlook.com> wrote in message
news:61f9fe02-601e-44e8...@outlook.com...

[Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)]

I used to work with a woman whose hobby was learning different languages. It
was very odd to find her just switching back and forth all the time carrying
on several conversations. I often wonder why for me learning other languages
is so hard, but some people just seem to be able to do it easily.
Puzzled.

Brian

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"Roderick Stewart" <rj...@escapetime.myzen.co.uk> wrote in message
news:fed82f5j2psk8euog...@4ax.com...

[John Williamson]

On 19/01/2020 10:08, Robin wrote:
> Very many jobs in the public sector in Wales are already classed as
> "Welsh desirable" or "Welsh essential". Ireland is heading the same way.
>
>

Not just the public sector and it's not recent. I did consider moving to
a pleasant area in mid Wales in the 1980s, but couldn't even get a job
interview unless I made the initial call in the local version of Welsh...

--
Tciao for Now!

John.

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

In message <r015sn$383$1...@news.albasani.net>, "Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)"

<bri...@blueyonder.co.uk> writes:
>Being fair, English is spoken in Scotland and Wales. The national language
>is a second tongue, though there are those who feel this is wrong of
>course.If we do not keep some common language in a country where we have
>free movement it would soon get very hard to get a job. I mean Cornish would
>still be spoken widely, and goodness knows what else. In history we have had
>many languages, and before schooling, there were indeed a lot still
>thriving.
> Brian
>

Ah, dialects/accents survive - possibly even thrive - to this day! I
once met someone on the Haymarket bus station in Newcastle, who carried
on a conversation for several minutes, of which I understood only the
occasional word! I just said "yes" or other non-committal word from time
to time, and she seemed happy. We also once on a family holiday in
Norfolk, visiting a small village (either Honing or Barton Turf, I can't
remember which), met (the only person out in the village - it was a
sleepy Sunday afternoon) an elderly local whose accent/speech was really
difficult to understand (to us!), though we did eventually.

I realise these are mainly accent rather than language examples.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Who is Art, and why does life imitate him?

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

In message <r016p3$jni$1...@dont-email.me>, "Brian Gaff (Sofa)"

<bri...@blueyonder.co.uk> writes:
>In a way this is an issue that the EU has yet to solve of cours, but a lot
>of EU citizens speak very good English, we need to charge foreigners a
>licence to speak it to make some dosh!
> grin.
> Brian
>

We'd maybe make the dosh quicker by charging to _not_ speak it ...

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

In message <r01dom$fjt$1...@news.albasani.net>, "Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)"

<bri...@blueyonder.co.uk> writes:
>I used to work with a woman whose hobby was learning different languages. It
>was very odd to find her just switching back and forth all the time carrying
>on several conversations. I often wonder why for me learning other languages
>is so hard, but some people just seem to be able to do it easily.
>Puzzled.
> Brian
>

I think _some_ of that is to do with the way we teach languages.

[John Williamson]

On 19/01/2020 11:15, Brian Gaff (Sofa 2) wrote:
> I used to work with a woman whose hobby was learning different languages. It
> was very odd to find her just switching back and forth all the time carrying
> on several conversations. I often wonder why for me learning other languages
> is so hard, but some people just seem to be able to do it easily.
> Puzzled.
>

The problem in the UK is that we start teaching foreign laguages too
late. When I was very young, we lived next door to an italian family,
and were surrounded by people speaking Afrikaans. As as result, even
though I did not learn either language in any depth, I got the idea that
the strange sounds actually meant something. This may or may not have
helped when I started learning French and German in secondary school.

As for ease of learning a language, I have found that musicians or
others with a good sense of pitch and rhythm find it easier than those
who don't, and don't often listen to music.

[Ashley Booth]

A good sense of rhythm helps with learning morse.

Best bent bed wire.

--

[NY]

"John Williamson" <johnwil...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:h8ja6d...@mid.individual.net...

> On 19/01/2020 11:15, Brian Gaff (Sofa 2) wrote:
>> I used to work with a woman whose hobby was learning different languages.
>> It
>> was very odd to find her just switching back and forth all the time
>> carrying
>> on several conversations. I often wonder why for me learning other
>> languages
>> is so hard, but some people just seem to be able to do it easily.
>> Puzzled.
>>
> The problem in the UK is that we start teaching foreign laguages too late.
> When I was very young, we lived next door to an italian family, and were
> surrounded by people speaking Afrikaans. As as result, even though I did
> not learn either language in any depth, I got the idea that the strange
> sounds actually meant something. This may or may not have helped when I
> started learning French and German in secondary school.

Do other countries start teaching foreign languages earlier than we do in
Britain? I think I was 9 when I started to learn French, and either 10 or 11
when I started learning German. Do French or Germans start learning
languages other than their own significantly earlier than this?

One of the complications is that a lot of foreign films and TV in
non-English-speaking countries are in English. This means that children will
be exposed to it, even though they don't formally learn it, much earlier. In
England, it is rare to hear a film or TV programme in a foreign language. I
remember that in the 1970s when I was a child, the BBC showed a few French
or German children's programmes, but these were always narrated in English -
often by Gabriel Woolf, I remember (the name stuck in my brain). Rather than
the dialogue being translated into English, the story was told in reported
speech "He asked her where she was going. She replied that she was going to
the baker's".

The other problem is that, rightly or wrongly, English is seen as the
default foreign language that everyone needs to learn, so they can
understand each other eg an Italian person and a Norwegian person may not
know each other's languages but they may both know English.

Because other countries hear English a lot more than we hear foreign
languages, we need to make an extra-special effort to teach languages, to
overcome this inherent problem.

I was pleased that when we were on holiday in Germany (Hamburg - a couple of
nights' stop as part of a longer cruise) I was able to make myself
understood with my O level German, which I last spoke about 40 years ago. I
think my wife was quite impressed, though I did make the elementary mistake
of asking the price of something that my wife wanted to buy, and then
forgetting to translate the assistant's reply to English because *I* had
understood it ;-)

OK, so most of the shopkeepers that I encountered could speak much better
English that my German, but I *tried*. The only time I came unstuck was when
we were buying crepes at a market stall and my wife wondered whether they
did lemon juice and sugar as a flavouring. The assistant only spoke "ein
Bisschen Englisch". What's the German for "lemon", I wondered. Nothing like
"lemon" - the assistant didn't understand that. "Ein gelbe Frucht, 5
Zentimer lang" - "Ah, Zitrone!" she beamed. "Haben Sie Zitronezaft und
Zucker?", I asked. Unfortunately not, but it was worth a try. And I bet I
never forget the German for lemon now. ;-)

[Max Demian]

On 19/01/2020 15:16, John Williamson wrote:
> On 19/01/2020 11:15, Brian Gaff (Sofa 2) wrote:
>> I used to work with a woman whose hobby was learning different
>> languages. It
>> was very odd to find her just switching back and forth all the time
>> carrying
>> on several conversations. I often wonder why for me learning other
>> languages
>> is so hard, but some people just seem to be able to do it easily.
>> Puzzled.
>>
> The problem in the UK is that we start teaching foreign laguages too
> late. When I was very young, we lived next door to an italian family,
> and were surrounded by people speaking Afrikaans. As as result, even
> though I did not learn either language in any depth, I got the idea that
> the strange sounds actually meant something. This may or may not have
> helped when I started learning French and German in secondary school.

The 'problem' is that it's not clear which of the European languages
it's worth learning, unless you have a particular association with a
continental country, as few have the ability or aptitude to learn more
than one. Continental Europeans have it easy as English is the obvious
first choice.

--
Max Demian

[st...@justnn.com]

On Mon, 20 Jan 2020 16:12:42 -0000, "NY" <m...@privacy.invalid> wrote:

>"John Williamson" <johnwil...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
>news:h8ja6d...@mid.individual.net...
>> On 19/01/2020 11:15, Brian Gaff (Sofa 2) wrote:
>>> I used to work with a woman whose hobby was learning different languages.
>>> It
>>> was very odd to find her just switching back and forth all the time
>>> carrying
>>> on several conversations. I often wonder why for me learning other
>>> languages
>>> is so hard, but some people just seem to be able to do it easily.
>>> Puzzled.
>>>
>> The problem in the UK is that we start teaching foreign laguages too late.
>> When I was very young, we lived next door to an italian family, and were
>> surrounded by people speaking Afrikaans. As as result, even though I did
>> not learn either language in any depth, I got the idea that the strange
>> sounds actually meant something. This may or may not have helped when I
>> started learning French and German in secondary school.
>
>Do other countries start teaching foreign languages earlier than we do in
>Britain? I think I was 9 when I started to learn French, and either 10 or 11
>when I started learning German. Do French or Germans start learning
>languages other than their own significantly earlier than this?
>

English seems to be an almost international language. I learned French
when I was in secondary school but it faded as I got older as I never
needed to speak French. When I was in my twenties I lived in a house
with a Polish family on one side and a Pakistani family on the other
side. They all spoke to me and each other in English. I never tried to
speak in their languages. It was embarrassing for me.

Steve

--
Neural Network Software http://www.npsnn.com
JustNN Just a neural network http://www.justnn.com
EasyNN-plus More than just a neural network http://www.easynn.com
SwingNN Prediction software http://www.swingnn.com

[NY]

"Max Demian" <max_d...@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:5_2dnf7mx5WJSLjD...@brightview.co.uk...

> The 'problem' is that it's not clear which of the European languages it's
> worth learning, unless you have a particular association with a
> continental country, as few have the ability or aptitude to learn more
> than one. Continental Europeans have it easy as English is the obvious
> first choice.

English *may* also be an easier language to learn moderately well, if you
can get your head around the non-intuitive pronunciations for words like
"thought" and "through" and "bough" and "bought" ;-) At least it has no
genders, no adjectival agreement and very few variations of verb endings
(just "I/you/we/they buy, he/she buys") - apart from have/be which are
highly irregular in most languages, not just English! And prepositions do
all the work - no agreement on noun endings depending on case, as in German.

I think the reason I found Latin many orders of magnitude harder than French
and German was that it doesn't have all the "little words" ("the", "he",
"to") which I probably depend on crucially when trying to work out which was
the verb, the noun, the adjective etc in a sentence, together with the
reasonably fixed word order in modern languages compared with the
free-for-all in Latin. If I could have worked out "which is the verb and the
noun" in this sentence, I might have done (a bit) better in Latin. I think
the examiner must have been feeling *very* generous when they gave me a C at
O level.

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

In message <r04kus$qkg$1...@dont-email.me>, NY <m...@privacy.invalid> writes:
>"Max Demian" <max_d...@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
>news:5_2dnf7mx5WJSLjD...@brightview.co.uk...
>> The 'problem' is that it's not clear which of the European languages
>>it's worth learning, unless you have a particular association with a
>>continental country, as few have the ability or aptitude to learn more
>>than one. Continental Europeans have it easy as English is the obvious
>>first choice.
>
>English *may* also be an easier language to learn moderately well, if

My mother taught EFL, and apparently it isn't -

>you can get your head around the non-intuitive pronunciations for words
>like "thought" and "through" and "bough" and "bought" ;-) At least it

- though that may be part of the reason. You might enjoy this poem:
http://ncf.idallen.com/english.html (which will send any foreigner
screaming; it does actually rhyme and scan, but you don't half have to
concentrate!).

>has no genders, no adjectival agreement and very few variations of verb
>endings (just "I/you/we/they buy, he/she buys") - apart from have/be
>which are highly irregular in most languages, not just English! And
>prepositions do all the work - no agreement on noun endings depending
>on case, as in German.

No, I've never understood the need for genders, or agreement. (That -
plus that it seemed too Spanish/Italian - didn't impress me about
Esperanto; seemed an unnecessary complication given its intention.)

>
>I think the reason I found Latin many orders of magnitude harder than
>French and German was that it doesn't have all the "little words"
>("the", "he", "to") which I probably depend on crucially when trying to
>work out which was the verb, the noun, the adjective etc in a sentence,
>together with the reasonably fixed word order in modern languages
>compared with the free-for-all in Latin. If I could have worked out

Agreed! (Though the placing of the verb at the end of subordinate
clauses in German somewhat disconcerting is!)

>"which is the verb and the noun" in this sentence, I might have done (a
>bit) better in Latin. I think the examiner must have been feeling
>*very* generous when they gave me a C at O level.

I can't remember what I got (though it was C or above), and it's been of
little or no practical use throughout my life (as an electronic
engineer). I'm glad I did it though.

--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

There should be a place on the ballot paper for 'None of the above', and if
enough people filled that in, the system might start to change. - Jeremy
Paxman in RT, 2014/1/25-31

[Paul Cummins]

In article <r04jhq$hbr$1...@dont-email.me>, m...@privacy.invalid (NY) wrote:

> OK, so most of the shopkeepers that I encountered could speak much
> better English that my German, but I *tried*. The only time I came
> unstuck was when we were buying crepes at a market stall and my
> wife wondered whether they did lemon juice and sugar as a
> flavouring. The assistant only spoke "ein Bisschen Englisch".
> What's the German for "lemon", I wondered. Nothing like "lemon" -
> the assistant didn't understand that. "Ein gelbe Frucht, 5 Zentimer
> lang" - "Ah, Zitrone!" she beamed. "Haben Sie Zitronezaft und
> Zucker?", I asked. Unfortunately not, but it was worth a try. And I
> bet I never forget the German for lemon now. ;-)

I once asked for an "electrische Stopse" and the German for ATM is also
fun! Clue, it isn't "cash machine"

--
Paul Cummins - Always a NetHead
Wasting Bandwidth since 1981

There are two kinds of people in the world,
Those who can draw conclusions from incomplete data...

[tony sayer]

In article <r01dom$fjt$1...@news.albasani.net>, Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)
<bri...@blueyonder.co.uk> scribeth thus

>I used to work with a woman whose hobby was learning different languages. It
>was very odd to find her just switching back and forth all the time carrying
>on several conversations. I often wonder why for me learning other languages
>is so hard, but some people just seem to be able to do it easily.
>Puzzled.
> Brian
>

I once had a dalliance with a Jewish lady around 12 languages under her
belt;!!

Ex missus could mange 6 inc Russian!!!
--
Tony Sayer


Man is least himself when he talks in his own person.

Give him a keyboard, and he will reveal himself.

[tony sayer]

In article <MPG.388e2f0a2...@News.Individual.NET>, Unsteadyken
<unste...@gmail.com> scribeth thus

Most Taxi drivers aren't English, well white English as they just do not
want the job these days!..

[tony sayer]

In article <h8ja6d...@mid.individual.net>, John Williamson <johnwilli
am...@btinternet.com> scribeth thus

Daughters here are Tri-lingual being exposed to other sounds when very
young..

[Unsteadyken]

In article <LBChuzFV...@bancom.co.uk>,

tony sayer says...

> Most Taxi drivers aren't English, well white English as they just do not
> want the job these days!..
>

Yep, I see this when I pop into the big City, Northampton or Leicester.

But not round here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corby
I was involved with taxi companies in Corby for over 25 years and have
seen hundreds of drivers come and go, only a handful were non white.

A driver applying to the council for a hackney or private hire license
and displaying the poor English skills that Brian complained about would
be most unlikely to obtain one.
https://www.corby.gov.uk/home/business/licensing-and-regulation/taxi-
licensing/drivers

If they did get a license, they would definitely not be allowed to drive
on any reputable radio circuit that I've been involved with such as:
http://www.skycabscorby.co.uk/

Even with the rise of data dispatch/GPS systems, voice communication
between driver and despatcher still plays a large part in taxi
operations and are vital at times.


Being from Aberdeenshire
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midmar
and living in Little Scotland, I can heartily agree with your comment
about the English being a bunch of idle layabouts.






--
Ken

[tony sayer]

In article <MPG.389114725...@News.Individual.NET>, Unsteadyken
<unste...@gmail.com> scribeth thus

>In article <LBChuzFV...@bancom.co.uk>,
>
>tony sayer says...
>
>> Most Taxi drivers aren't English, well white English as they just do not
>> want the job these days!..
>>
>Yep, I see this when I pop into the big City, Northampton or Leicester.
>
>But not round here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corby
>I was involved with taxi companies in Corby for over 25 years and have
>seen hundreds of drivers come and go, only a handful were non white.
>

Plenty here in Cambridge non white drivers..

>A driver applying to the council for a hackney or private hire license
>and displaying the poor English skills that Brian complained about would
>be most unlikely to obtain one.
>https://www.corby.gov.uk/home/business/licensing-and-regulation/taxi-
>licensing/drivers
>
>If they did get a license, they would definitely not be allowed to drive
>on any reputable radio circuit that I've been involved with such as:
>http://www.skycabscorby.co.uk/

Radio circuit Ken?, thing of the past nowadays!..

>
> Even with the rise of data dispatch/GPS systems, voice communication
>between driver and despatcher still plays a large part in taxi
>operations and are vital at times.

They are almost all using computer aided dispatch these days, with such
i systems as icabbi no radio anymore just GSM Phone..

>
>
>Being from Aberdeenshire
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midmar
> and living in Little Scotland, I can heartily agree with your comment
>about the English being a bunch of idle layabouts.
>
>
>
>
>
>

--

[tony sayer]

In article <5_2dnf7mx5WJSLjD...@brightview.co.uk>, Max
Demian <max_d...@bigfoot.com> scribeth thus

Absolutely! who needs anything other then her Maj's English?.

Was in the chip shoppe the other night, woman in there odd accent as
there was a bit of a wait i asked her where she came from and i said
before you tell me I reckon your Scandinavian somewhere she nodded !

Norwegian i said right on the nail her English was fine otherwise just
an odd accent she did say we all learn English as who speaks that
anywhere other than Norway?.

[Unsteadyken]

In article <XqPW0gGi...@bancom.co.uk>,

tony sayer says...

> They are almost all using computer aided dispatch these days, with such
> i systems as icabbi no radio anymore just GSM Phone..
>

It is illegal to use a mobile whilst driving, they incur constant data
charges and cannot connect to the taximeter to extract fare and flag
data for transmission back to base.

Apart from that, what's not to like?:-)


--
Ken

[Dave Liquorice]

On Wed, 22 Jan 2020 06:52:24 -0000, Unsteadyken wrote:

>> They are almost all using computer aided dispatch these days, with
such
>> i systems as icabbi no radio anymore just GSM Phone..
>
> It is illegal to use a mobile whilst driving,

Handheld but they keep fiddling with the rules so I might not have be
up to date. You are allowed to use a cars "infotainment" system.
What's the difference between that and using a mounted mobile phone?

> ... they incur constant data charges ....

How much data do they need to shift? Plenty of tariffs available with
20 or 30 GB/month at the £20 to £30 / month level. A few "unlimited"
data as well.

> ... and cannot connect to the taximeter to extract fare and flag data

> for transmission back to base.

Does it need to? Did the old radio systems do that?

--
Cheers
Dave.

[Unsteadyken]

In article <nyyfbegfubjuvyypb...@news.individual.net>,

Dave Liquorice says...

> Does it need to?
Yes. The meter on/off indicates whether the cab is free to accept a
booking or is occupied with a passenger on board. And also indicates
whether they have picked up a previously allocated booking and
eventually completed the booking.

The fare data is important too as it is passed to the accounts portion
of the despatch system.
In the case of the cab company I linked to earlier they have 75 cabs on
their books. These cabs are owned by 20-30 separate owners and are
driven by nearly 200 drivers all doing cash and account work.
Cash jobs are no problem, it is up to the driver to ensure that they
are paid.
Account work is very different. At the end of the month the account
customers require an itemised bill, the owners and drivers have to be
credited/debited for each individual job etc. Before computerisation
reconciling that lot on paper was a nightmare

>Did the old radio systems do that?

yes. And they had the advantage that in the event of a query/emergency.
Plain old voice radio was available at the press of a button.

Of course all this tech in the cab is useless if the owner employs an
idiot to drive it.



--
Ken

[st...@swingnn.com]

On Wed, 22 Jan 2020 10:29:01 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Liquorice"
<allsortsn...@howhill.com> wrote:

>Handheld but they keep fiddling with the rules so I might not have be
>up to date. You are allowed to use a cars "infotainment" system.
>What's the difference between that and using a mounted mobile phone?

It takes twice as much thinking to listen and reply than just
listening.

[Dave Liquorice]

On Wed, 22 Jan 2020 12:38:17 +0000, st...@swingnn.com wrote:

>> Handheld but they keep fiddling with the rules so I might not have
be
>> up to date. You are allowed to use a cars "infotainment" system.
>> What's the difference between that and using a mounted mobile
phone?
>
> It takes twice as much thinking to listen and reply than just
> listening.

Who said anything about voice communication? This is just button
pushing on the screen of a mounted mobile v button pushing on a
taximeter or the cars infotainment.

--
Cheers
Dave.

[Dave Liquorice]

On Wed, 22 Jan 2020 12:30:42 -0000, Unsteadyken wrote:

>> Does it need to?
>
> Yes. The meter on/off indicates whether the cab is free to accept a
> booking or is occupied with a passenger on board. And also indicates
> whether they have picked up a previously allocated booking and
> eventually completed the booking.
>
> The fare data is important too as it is passed to the accounts portion
> of the despatch system.

Strikes me that an app on a connected mobile device could do all that
a taximeter can do without any problems, including distance travelled
via GPS(*), customer display etc.

I'd guess it's licencing requirements for an approved taximeter and
no apps being approved that is the gotcha.

(*) I think in the days of bowden cable speedometers a sensor was
fitted inline with that to get distance travelled. Presumably these
days they use a OBD2 connection to get that information.

>> Did the old radio systems do that?
>
> yes. And they had the advantage that in the event of a query/emergency.
> Plain old voice radio was available at the press of a button.

It is with a mobile connected device. Doesn't need to be a phone
either, just an on demand voice link in the data stream.

> Of course all this tech in the cab is useless if the owner employs an
> idiot to drive it.

B-) There's always a bigger idiot than the one you have catered for
in your idiot proofing.

--
Cheers
Dave.

[Unsteadyken]

In article <nyyfbegfubjuvyypb...@news.individual.net>,

Dave Liquorice says...

> I think in the days of bowden cable speedometers a sensor was
> fitted inline with that to get distance travelled.
>

In the good old days of the Austin FX4 and mechanical clockwork meters
the meter was cable driven from a take off at the back of the gearbox
and counted prop shaft revolutions.


--
Ken

[tony sayer]

In article <MPG.389250cc8...@News.Individual.NET>, Unsteadyken
<unste...@gmail.com> scribeth thus

The current set up is to run an app on a smartfone that interfaces with
the GSM data system ands does the complete car to base comms. The voice
channel is now a one to one or one to many GSM connection on hands free
on the same smartfone.

We used to have taxi operators where they were running a system such as
Auriga and Autocab where they did have an analogue radio and that could
carry voice and they also in the car had a DATA head cost quite a bit
and that cost quite a bit to interface. The radio would TX and RX on
the date radio frequencies and when a voice call was requested the radio
would be switched by the controller to the voice channel

Now a cheap smartfone I think they local firms use one around a 100 quid
the other set ups per car cost around a thousand or more and now no
external aerial is needed either, the one in the phone is fine.

All that ran over analogue radio channels used to have around 8 or 10
here in the area, all now gone quiet.

Most any idiot can work it all as if they can't work it they get no
work!

It is rather simple to use. All automated, driver likes it more
profitable on the road jobs, less downtime better managed lots of other
good bits, what's not to like?

Its not how it used to be anymore..


https://www.icabbi.com/

https://trapezegroup.co.uk/taxi-booking-dispatch/

https://www.autocab.com/our-solutions/

https://taxi-dispatch-system.co.uk/