@fluffykittycat @briankrebs they don't wear out very fast, no. its an up front expense to install, get drivers, hook up to software, etc, and there's little to no reason to touch any of that unless it breaks.

pass key systems are absolutely the way to go, though, because they sign tickets without ever exposing the actual secrets. that's not something magstrips can do, but it does require microchips which are markedly more of a bother than a little bit of mag tape.

phones increasingly have the capability to be a pass key through NFC, though that carries the same issue that you need to upgrade the damn machines *again* to have a smart card port and the NFC chips, which is [see above.]