Students predict little difference between tapping, swiping into dining

As of next fall, Boston University Terrier ID cards will be tapped instead of swiped at dining halls and vending machines, officials said.

“It has to do with the efficiency,” said BU spokesman Colin Riley. “It should be a little quicker.”

Though student residences will not change over to tapping systems, Riley said it could happen in the future.

“If they are able, they will move forward with additional efficiencies and convenience,” he said.

Until then, security will continue to have students swipe and show their IDs.

Jack Kanarek, a College of Arts and Sciences sophomore, said the switch from swiping to tapping in dining halls “seems irrelevant.”

“If we’re still giving it to the cashier, if they swipe or tap it, it seems the same to me,” Kanarek said. “They still have to do the stuff on the screen.”

Kanarek said the time saved by tapping instead of swiping would amount to about a second.

College of Communication freshman Yujin Choi said the lines in the dining hall move quickly as at is, and the money it would cost to change over the devices could be spent elsewhere.

Nonetheless, she said, tapping cards at the residence halls, if implemented, would be much better than the current system.

“At least in Warren, all the security guards make you swipe your card at least five times to get in, and it’s just a hassle,” she said.

Tianqi Sun, a CAS sophomore, said redoing all the systems to accommodate tapping would be a waste of money.

“Even if it’s just dining halls and vending machines, they’re essentially trying to implement a new system that has no sort of measurable improvement on the old system of ID card swiping,” Sun said.

Sun said the difference between swiping and tapping will prove to be trivial.

“Unless we are 18th-century oil tycoons that are sitting there and examining our workers and timing them for how fast they take per swipe, per tap, the difference is going to be negligible,” Sun said. “Unless we’re actually doing some serious scientific, industrial engineering, it doesn’t really matter.”

Cameron Berry, a CAS freshman, said it would be better for him because he does not like waiting in line.

“I know people who have their IDs get all messed up, so I guess tapping would be better,” he said.

CAS freshman Isaiah Dicker said tapping into residences would improve the current system if the university eventually implements it, but it still would not be a huge change.

“Sometimes the swiping machines tend to be a bit temperamental and you have to swipe it several times until it works,” Dicker said. “Sometimes they’re easy, and sometimes I guess the machines just start having a bad day.”