The economic activity of waiting in line.

[Webetcoins]

I would guess my time isn't that important. I mean waiting in line, depending on the end result and how long I wait, is not a problem.

Obviously if I am waiting in line for something unimportant for hours just because government makes me, then yeah I will hate that, but my government fixed that with digital lines, we all get numbers, and then on our phones we see which number is next, so if we have long time, we just do whatever we want, and when there are like less than 5 people, we go wait and that way we handle our business without waiting in line.

I think everyone around the world should switch to that, it allows people not to wait in line, you just watch over on your phone and that allows you to do get in line on the last 10 minutes.

[Jubilee58]

In carrying out our various economic activities, in most cases, we're faced with the prospect of having to wait in line. At banks, at Malls, at gas stations, including waiting in line to access health care.
Think about what we lose out on when we spend time on these lines; in pure economic terms we'll say alternative forgones, or lost opportunity. The time forgone could surely be utilized somewhere, or in something else.
Technology and digitalization has reduced such burdens. Online banking, Bitcoin, payment for services with barcode etc.
As time goes with more technology advancement, most of these problems could be better solved.

The concern of this writer is, could we see an overcrowding in the digital space, and start to wait in line, as a result of network issues or variables like that.

Something to factor in when thinking of the next economic breakthrough!

Online activities is entirely different from physical activities and the only thing that can reduce overcrowding in some of this activities that we perform physically in banks , malls or even in the hospital is proliferation of this infrastructures, this is when these infrastructures are built in many places within a given environment.
For instance, in the banking industry the technology of using bank app and POS have reduced the number of people that goes to bank drastically, before now any little transaction you want to make either transfer or withdrawal you must go to bank,  but today you can make some of the transaction with your bank app or ussd code using your phone.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

In carrying out our various economic activities, in most cases, we're faced with the prospect of having to wait in line. At banks, at Malls, at gas stations, including waiting in line to access health care.
Think about what we lose out on when we spend time on these lines; in pure economic terms we'll say alternative forgones, or lost opportunity. The time forgone could surely be utilized somewhere, or in something else.
Technology and digitalization has reduced such burdens. Online banking, Bitcoin, payment for services with barcode etc.
As time goes with more technology advancement, most of these problems could be better solved.

The concern of this writer is, could we see an overcrowding in the digital space, and start to wait in line, as a result of network issues or variables like that.

Something to factor in when thinking of the next economic breakthrough!

I do not think there can ever be a time where the digital space has to be overcrowded, and we have to wait inline to carry out a certain type of task like sending money to a loved one and so through internet banking, because as day breaks, so is the technology getting better and better, and coupled with the fact that we all have different options and alternatives when it comes to choosing a network to access the internet with makes things even much more interesting.

Few days ago, there was a heavy down pour in my area and that caused some network hiccups in  some areas, I went to a nearby pharmacy to get some drugs because I was feeling my head aching, after getting the drugs, I tried to make payment through online banking and realized I can't because there was a very bad network issue in that area, then I realized that the 6 or more persons who were there when I walked in were there because they were also having the same network issues and can't make payment for what they had bought.
Since my mobile device was a one Sim device, I had an extra Sim of a different network at the back, I have some internet data on this Sim as well, I immediately turned off my phone, took out the Sim and replaced it with the other Sim from another network, turned on my phone and successfully made payment for my purchase and left while other persons who were there before I came remained there due to lack of alternative.

[M47AK16]

Many transactions can't be processed simultaneously, so waiting times also occur in blockchains. At least this waiting isn't a physical one your transaction is processed when it's due. The digital world has many advantages, and these advantages truly make life easier. It saves us time, freeing it up for us to focus on research and other tasks.

Indeed, especially before but thankfully, our hardworking devs doesn't rest only to provide us a great service. As for now, many transactions can now be processed at a single time. There are also newer cryptos that can do this better. Not to mention we now have lesser fees. In the physical one, even if we are already on due, we can still experience a delay but there are also times that our transaction will be processed in advance if things are working smoothly.

Cryptocurrency and other digital payment services still operate in waiting in line for payment confirmation, yes, miners still acts on this too but the case is automatic, the time it would take for physical customers attendance to digital fast payment processor is quite different, but there is still an issue of in line waiting.

For crypto, yeah but for the others, I believe they are instant. This is their advantage. Being digital doesn't mean it can always provide speedy solution. I'm referring to their customer service. We don't know if our issue is truly forwarded to the management, not like to the physical one because we can see the personnel's actions.

[Pi-network314159]

In carrying out our various economic activities, in most cases, we're faced with the prospect of having to wait in line. At banks, at Malls, at gas stations, including waiting in line to access health care.
Think about what we lose out on when we spend time on these lines; in pure economic terms we'll say alternative forgones, or lost opportunity. The time forgone could surely be utilized somewhere, or in something else.
Technology and digitalization has reduced such burdens. Online banking, Bitcoin, payment for services with barcode etc.
As time goes with more technology advancement, most of these problems could be better solved.

Yes that's actually true, civilization has made things more easier an quick to achieve than before, but I still think that not everything has changed, like the health care, to get medical attention in public hospitals, you still need to be on the que where each an everyone will be waiting patiently to be attempted to. And this will still serve as alternative for gone where you still lose time you would have used to do other things for waiting. But However nothing goes for nothing, if a person lose time for another thing to be achieved then there is nothing wrong. It can only be a problem when such person lose both side.

[Hyphen(-)]

The concern of this writer is, could we see an overcrowding in the digital space, and start to wait in line, as a result of network issues or variables like that.

Something to factor in when thinking of the next economic breakthrough!

The digital space especially Bitcoin has already ease our stress of such lines in either banks or anywhere just to get your money or to purchase something with your money when you can do all these things online.
Technology has brought us to a level where you can do everything at the comfort of your home no need to queue up in the banks to get your money, you can do your transactions online using different methods include paying with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, now only people who are yet to be advanced in technology development are left behind to suffer the stress they are used to.

Even investments, you don’t need to go to the bank for account opening or claims issued related to your account just to save money, you can buy Bitcoin, hold thee coin in your personal wallet you will create and manage by yourself, then spend your money wherever you want and also get some profit if you hold for long period of time and it is also against inflation while, leaving your money in fiat will lose value.

[Hewlet]

At banks it is hard to grasp, do those banks don't own a digital infrastructure?
Malls are in many cases due to having a home where the owner/renter does not feel at home.

Even with the availability of infrastructures, you still have to factor in the need to get in touch with customers service that mostly require you to come physically and when dealing with instances where the population is much, you can't but face wastage of time when you're using a service that's jointly owned by a large population of individuals.

Except it's extremely necessary, it's rare before I visit the bank. With mobile banking option now popular and point of sale machine readily available any time you need physical cash, banks will soon go obsolete and spending your time on the banking que has become unnecessary.

[summonerrk]

In carrying out our various economic activities, in most cases, we're faced with the prospect of having to wait in line. At banks, at Malls, at gas stations, including waiting in line to access health care.
Think about what we lose out on when we spend time on these lines; in pure economic terms we'll say alternative forgones, or lost opportunity. The time forgone could surely be utilized somewhere, or in something else.
Technology and digitalization has reduced such burdens. Online banking, Bitcoin, payment for services with barcode etc.
As time goes with more technology advancement, most of these problems could be better solved.

The concern of this writer is, could we see an overcrowding in the digital space, and start to wait in line, as a result of network issues or variables like that.

Something to factor in when thinking of the next economic breakthrough!

That's why I love living in a country with a very high level of digitalization. Banks here are very fast, unlike many Asian, European, and African countries.
Many of the countries I mentioned don't have banking at all, and you have to go to the bank yourself, fill out paperwork, and wait in lines. I also love ordering groceries delivered to my home; it saves a lot of time and effort, so I hope all countries will strive for high digitalization.

[Roseline492]

In carrying out our various economic activities, in most cases, we're faced with the prospect of having to wait in line. At banks, at Malls, at gas stations, including waiting in line to access health care.
Think about what we lose out on when we spend time on these lines; in pure economic terms we'll say alternative forgones, or lost opportunity. The time forgone could surely be utilized somewhere, or in something else.
Technology and digitalization has reduced such burdens. Online banking, Bitcoin, payment for services with barcode

Technology is important but cannot solve all the problem in the society, however I will elaborate on this from those things you have mentioned that you feel technology could have changed it and make it better, so actually in a shopping malls there is no how they would equipped it in technology that you cannot see a little queue up for a little time because the population could be more than all the customer service and besides we can't even say they do not have technology because all the transaction they usually do is process using a computer system so actually on this case more workforce are recommended for more sufficiency. Health care is also the same thing as I have explained on the Mall.

[Rruchi man]

The concern of this writer is, could we see an overcrowding in the digital space, and start to wait in line, as a result of network issues or variables like that.

I think we still wait in line even in the digital space; it is just less observable since the queue moves faster than a physical queue as things are handled by programmed technology.

This is why there is something called traffic on a website, and during times when there is a lot of traffic on a website or platform, you may find it difficult to have smooth access there. Even in the mempool, you need to wait for your transaction to be added to the block, that is a classic example of waiting in line.  

[el kaka22]

Digital world has no waiting time. It has DNS attack or whatever that is called, basically if millions of people visit a website that is not ready for it, then it would crash the website, causing it to have losses because it could have made better profit and that caused the issue.

So basically it does happen, but not like waiting in line, it just crashes. Normally, nothing keeps you waiting digitally so you shouldn't really end up with any issues and you should be getting good returns. That is the best way to move, and we are going to see this be a lot better. If we can do that, then we are going to get greater profits, it's just not going to be that clear, so we can't really consider this as a way to make a loss, just be smarter about it.

[shield132]

In carrying out our various economic activities, in most cases, we're faced with the prospect of having to wait in line. At banks, at Malls, at gas stations, including waiting in line to access health care.
Think about what we lose out on when we spend time on these lines; in pure economic terms we'll say alternative forgones, or lost opportunity. The time forgone could surely be utilized somewhere, or in something else.
Technology and digitalization has reduced such burdens. Online banking, Bitcoin, payment for services with barcode etc.
As time goes with more technology advancement, most of these problems could be better solved.

The concern of this writer is, could we see an overcrowding in the digital space, and start to wait in line, as a result of network issues or variables like that.

Something to factor in when thinking of the next economic breakthrough!

Overcrowding in the digital space exists and people really have to get in line. There was Barcelona vs Sevilla Uefa Super Cup 2015 in my country and we all are a huge fan of Barcelona and Messi, so my whole country wated to buy ticket to see Messi in live and I remember that that day the website where tickets were sold got crasheed and later they managed to turn on a website but this time they set a queue on the website. If I amn't wrong, they were using Qmatic. The principle was that the first person who would enter the website would be the number one in the queue and everyone would get their queue number according to their rank. It was like, first-come, first-served but then you also had a few minutes given, you had to buy a ticket in 10 minutes or you would be removed from your queue and the next person would get the chance to buy it.

[sana54210]

Overcrowding in the digital space exists and people really have to get in line. There was Barcelona vs Sevilla Uefa Super Cup 2015 in my country and we all are a huge fan of Barcelona and Messi, so my whole country wated to buy ticket to see Messi in live and I remember that that day the website where tickets were sold got crasheed and later they managed to turn on a website but this time they set a queue on the website. If I amn't wrong, they were using Qmatic. The principle was that the first person who would enter the website would be the number one in the queue and everyone would get their queue number according to their rank. It was like, first-come, first-served but then you also had a few minutes given, you had to buy a ticket in 10 minutes or you would be removed from your queue and the next person would get the chance to buy it.

That happens very rarely though. That is not something that common for the people and usually we end up with no queues in the online world. However, it is true that overcrowding do happen, and we end up with something that is a bit more cliché here because the whole world learned how to speak English to get together and online world became a big one nation.

We all have different ideas, but just like how one nation has usually two parties or more for political reasons, we have party of our nation, and we all get together and different cultures crowd it. Sometimes you meet great friends all over, and sometimes you meet dickheads. So we shouldn't really be worried about crowded online spaces, it's something we are used to by now.

[Iroh]

You've got a point. The long waiting time we spend waiting in queues to use a service or purchase an item could be used productively somewhere else. Precious time that we'll never get back is then used standing in queues. Thankfully, like it's noted in the OP, advancement in technology and digitalization has helped reduced or outright eliminated these waiting times.

We've already seen waiting time also in the digital space. I think we've overwhelmingly adapted and are steadily being more reliant on these services online due to comfort and ease of use. These waiting time online is due to lots of people interacting with that service at that point. It's only natural to wait a while. The upside? You can continue to do other tasks while waiting.

[slapper]

The queue is not just a waste of time. Standing in line is a tax we pay in lost opportunity.. It is what economists refer to as "an opportunity cost", but in the reality, it is a form of invisible extraction that affects our freedom of choice. When we wait in line to visit the health care system, to access the banking, to get fuel and other facilities we simply accepting scarcity as a design

Some of those chains have been broken by digitalization. Bitcoin, online banking, QR codes, mobile wallets, they compress the waiting time into a few keystrokes. But if everyone rushes into the same "frictionless" system, does it eventually become crowded again? The online queue does not exist physically, yet it is there. The new queues are congestion of the network, network latency, verification time, even energy cost. When too many people transact at once, the network decides who waits. You cannot see the line but it is there

[Gozie51]

The concern of this writer is, could we see an overcrowding in the digital space, and start to wait in line, as a result of network issues or variables like that.

I think few years back, there was the ordinal issue with bitcoin making the fee higher but it never stopped transactions from going on in different blockchains and that is the beauty of cryptocurrency. There are different platforms that transactions can go on in the blockchain. So even though there is the possibility of queue in online digital transaction but it is not just one network that is available. Therefore, there s Sol,, Ethereum or binance blockchain they are available as alternative which will help to clear the backlog.

[Bitcoin_people]

You are right that waiting for time has become a big problem in our daily life. Especially standing in line at banks, waiting for a long time at cash counters in shopping malls, standing in line at hospitals for services, and also crowding at various cash counters including gas stations, which wastes our time. If we want to solve these problems, then of course we need the help of technology which can be done online. For example, online banking, cryptocurrency and digital payments, fast payments through barcodes, e-commerce and home delivery facilities which have reduced people's time to some extent. However, if we have to do these, then of course the website may face network problems, server down, and additional traffic due to which the transaction may take more time, which can also cause problems here. Therefore, considering all the issues, fast internet servers should be improved, and technology should be improved to make transactions faster at lower costs. If all these can be improved technologically by thinking about the future, then time will be saved and the solution will be found.

[tabas]

The digital economy has contributed a lot to many countries GDP. Whether we deny it or not, many opportunities have come from it. E-commerce is just one of it, the social media and the businesses that have been built through it. These are only the few out of the many that have contributed a lot to the personal economy of each individual and also to the growth of a country's economy. I think that with the queues that you're talkin about network issues and such, they'll also improve and be solved as the time passes by.