From: Ronald Raygun 
Subject: Re: chip&pin. Again
Newsgroups: uk.finance
Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2006 12:32:02 GMT

Tim wrote:

> "Tiddy Ogg" wrote
>> ...those carrying a shopping bag in their other hand...
> 
> Didn't it occur to them to put the bag on
> the floor while they entered their PIN?

What a stupid idea.  It might fall over and damage its contents,
or they may spill out and would have to be gathered back in at
some inconvenience.  Besides, you don't need a shopping bag to
create the problem.

To illustrate:  My cards are in my wallet.  I get the wallet out
of my pocket, the card out of the wallet, stick it in the machine,
and while keying the number with one hand, keep hold of the wallet
with the other.  I wouldn't want to put the wallet down on a counter
(easy target for a snatcher), nor would I particularly fancy closing
the wallet and putting it back in my pocket, only to have to take it
out again when finished (too lazy, but surely not unreasonably so).
OK, not the best of examples, I could always use the wallet as a
sight-shield which might even be better than just the hand...

Does not the DDA require these things to be disabled-friendly?
What if you don't actually have two hands?  If the equipment can
cater for *such* people, it can by implication cater for people
who choose to allocate their spare hand to other tasks.