Sorry, but you got that one backwards. When the Cash register goes down, Cash is pretty much the only option. You can't use a Smart Phone or Credit card (weather a magnetic strip or chip) if the register isn't working.

A lot more than you think (and I work on Point of Sales equipment). And it's not so much luck, but you might have made a purchase with a credit card at a certain Point of Sale terminal, and five minutes later, The card reader or something else goes down and a dozen or so people who came up after you can't use a card. If they're lucky there's more than one register where they're at and someone else can do a transaction (IF there's someone to ring you up that is). But there are vendors and locations that only have one terminal or cashier available at times, and when the hardware is down, cash is the only option.

So the smart phone is a great multi hundred dollar calculator for the uneducated?

Just get one of these babies:

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I WISH I could say the same. I had to use a pager at one time (and they do suck), have a cel Phone (LG flip phone) that if I didn't need it because of an elderly parent, I'd ditch, and recently started to use a smart phone at work. Rarely to make a call, but for running corporate apps that don't work!