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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   2005 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for November 9, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

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My gut says that people are usually provided PDFs as "printable" documents; the online link is just a bonus. There's a few situations where it could be of use:

  1. I'm booking a trip for my parents; I do the work of setting up the days for the hotel and the airline tickets, then print out the emails that are sent to me and bring them to my parents' house. My parents are ancient boomers, so don't use computers - but they definitely have iPhones.
  2. The PDFs contain information that is more generally applicable (see like, signups for a school dance); they print out like 500 copies, give them to all kids to take home, but also have a link on their website to sign up (which just emails you the PDF, because the person setting it up doesn't "get" what a QR code is).

Side note: it's a very millennial trait to not want to do purchases on your phone.

With regards to the payment provider; in all likelihood, it's the only one they could get approved. Governments have a lot of weird rules around exactly who you are allowed to use especially for handling payments - I'd guess that there is something specific about this one that ticks a weird box that no one else knows/cares about (once, when working on a government website, I had to copy all their font files out of Google Fonts, and store them locally on the build because they were not allowed to access any servers that might be in the US; they also have a super weird tracking service I'd never heard of before instead of using GTM or Google Analytics, for the same reason).

Yeah, I don't have a huge problem with QR code tickets, and then I can choose to print them out, or load them on my phone. QR code coupons generated by apps that constantly change them or invalidate them when they are shared within a family unit are annoying, but they are coupons, and annoyance is expected.

Side note: it's a very millennial trait to not want to do purchases on your phone. LOL. I do relate to this.

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