When the airlines started switching to kiosks for check-in, I was ecstatic. This made things faster and had a definite appeal to my inner geek.

On Friday morning, I learned painfully that most people still prefer interfacing with humans. As a long line snaked out in front of the Delta kiosks, "normal" people grappled with technology. And the humans weren’t winning.

For some, just sliding a credit card through the reader was a Sisyphean task. Others wandered aimlessly through the array of menus and selections the kiosk presented. One man fought the machine for 20 minutes before a harried Delta agent looked at the printed copy of the passenger's itinerary.

"You're going to Harrisburg through Cleveland?"

The flustered passenger nodded, shamed by his technological shortcomings.

"That's a Continental flight. This is Delta. Go down to the other end of the airport."

Travel Bob then stepped forward, undaunted, ready for his shot at the machine.

I swiped my credit card in the reader, punched my way through the buttons and watched with satisfaction as the kiosk spit out my ticket like a fallen boxer coughing up teeth.

Posted by Bob Benz at September 18, 2004 11:41 AM

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