swindon

[goldenboy]

a friend of mine once told me that swindon is used as a kind of testing area for new technology and ideas owing to its average nature. is this true? i grew up there and was aware that we seemed to have cable tv in advance of much of britain, and a few years back i think they tested out chip and pin there.

[OBonio]

It wasn't Chip and PIN we had. It was a chip based card which you could put into a cash point and put money on. Then, when you go to a shop that 'supported' this (not many), you could simply give them your card and enter a PIN for the money to be taken off the card. Another feature was that it could be locked. Not even the owner of the card could use it.... this was done at the cash point... I could go on, but it was basically the same as using a Switch card, but less convenient.

All traffic experiments go on here too. Bus lanes, taxi lanes, roundabouts, traffic lights ON roundabouts... you name it, we've got it. Not forgetting the Magic Roundabout, which actually works really well!

Other than that... I don't know of any new tech going on here.

As for average, I wouldn't know. I would hope less than average, otherwise this country is knackered!

[Buenchico]

When companies are trialling new goods or services they often choose areas when the local demographic and social profiles suit their research requirements. (For example, if you're trialling a new version of the Stannah stairlift it's a good idea to pilot it in an area with an elderly population. If want to see how well a new type of pot noodle will sell, there's probably little point trialling it in Knightsbridge).

In some cases, manufacturers and service suppliers are trialling something which they hope a large cross-section of the population will be interested in. For these purposes, they seek out areas where there is a good 'spread' of the population in terms of age, income, social class and ethnic background. As you've suggested, Swindon is one of the places which often meets the required criteria.

Sometimes, however, products and services are trialled in certain towns for reasons which have nothing to do with demographic and social profiles. Bus passengers in Ipswich had screens telling them where their buses were well before the rest of the country. The local hospital also has pilots running on new types of body scanner, etc. The reason for Ipswich piloting these new technologies has nothing to do with any form of profiling - It's just that BT's research headquarters employs several thousand people on the ege of the town.

Chris

[goldenboy]

cheers lads. obonio, ive not been back for years now and still miss the place on occasion. mind you, i used to live in the valley so my memories aren't all that good. one day i shall return!

[Lisax]

hey goldenboy, i'm from swindon. when you say the valleys where do you mean?? penhill??

also out of interest how old are you?

[goldenboy]

yep, i mean penhill. i used to live in atworth close. i'm 34 now and left swindon when i was 19. went to st joes in nythe

[Lisax]

ah right.... your a joey too then... my sister is 30 so you'd have been a few years ahead of her... i'm a stratton girl, grew up on beechcroft road not far from penhill

[goldenboy]

one of my mates from school lived near you i think, his mum was the needlework teacher at st joes. ask your sis.

[Lisax]

not mrs murrey??

[goldenboy]

no, kate goldup

[Lisax]

i recognise that name myself... will have to ask my sister