Oh I get that, but then the same can be said of cash vs card when buying anything on the high street. Ever increasingly people are using cards for even small transactions (one of the retail outlets in my work's building only accepts cards now!), and now more and more people use smartphones for the same purpose. And as the methods change, its up to the individual to ensure they a) have the required card / device available before setting off, and b) in the case of the smartphone ensure that they don't drain the battery playing Candy Crush or whatever. What possibly needs to change with the technology is how TOCs handle and verify situations where for whatever reason the passenger has a genuine situation where they are unable to present a valid electronic card/ticket. So for example a passenger with an M-Ticket or card arrives at a destination having had their phone stolen.
In cases like these TOCs *should* have available to all relevant staff an application that can link to the relevant database, whereby they can ask the passenger's registered email address, have them input a security PIN/Code and this then verifies a live ticket and or pass. This could, at the TOC's discretion also be used in cases of battery power loss, although as anyone who has travelled by air in recent times knows, a simple "switch it on please" can quickly verify if a device is genuinely of out juice, or just in the hands of a chancer. None of the issues raised with the use of new technology are insurmountable, and actually could help reduce costs and increase FP in the process.
