Japanese IC cards are so amazingly fast I don’t even have to slow down from a fast walk when paying for access to the subway line, or any train or vending machine for that matter.
In other countries, you have to tap the card on the machine and leave it there for a few seconds before it registers your pay.
How did japan get their IC cards to work so fast?
In: Technology
An IC card is a card that has been topped up with some cash that you can use to pay for your fare. The card isnt bound to any user so therefore it only contains very limited information. There is no need for the machine to call back to a server, validate authenticity and time limit etc. When you tap, the machine only checks a few things, that its valid, and that you have money on the card, this is almost instant, it may link up to a server depending on the machine but in most cases the machine can be off the grid even.
Essentially, its so fast because there is so little the machine has to check and look up, all it needs to know is that your card is valid, for how long and that it has money on it.
Latest Answers