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Welcome to the Brave New World of Orwellian Parking Meters
Introducing PhotoViolationMeter™ -- the "World's Friendliest Parking Meter." It's DoublePlusGood! Larger glorious photo here
It was a bright cold day in December, and the clocks were striking thirteen when we happened upon the the fanciest no-armed bandit we've ever seen. It's called a PhotoViolationMeter™. Appears as if IBM is funding a trial run of these things at the Golden Gate Bridge parking lot.
San Francisco, you're going to love it!
See you (literally - the Party has tapped into your webcam) after the jump.
The PVM™ automatically takes a picture of your car. Why, you say? Why not? And you can even give it your cell phone number. Why? So it can call you up and ask for more money when the time comes.
Will future models have a TASER® to mete out swift justice to drivers who go a few minutes over? We can only hope.
Reviews are mixed. Some wish to page George Orwell while others welcome the future with open arms.
On the upside, these things might save you a little money by helping you avoid "eating beef jerky", as they say in L.A.
In the words of the manufacturer, PhotoViolationMeterTM Invades San Francisco. San Franciscoites will Get to Enjoy the World’s Friendliest Parking Meter. Yes, "invades." Yes, "San Franciscoites."
Check out the exclamation point-laden copy on the side of these boxes here. Read even more about it at the official site here
Actually, after seeing all that, the future is starting to look better and better. Upon further review, we've decided We love Big Brother!