Look...I just report on what I have read. More and more people are reporting difficulties in some places, but not all, in using the magnetic strip cards in various places in the world. Like I have said, and yes I know we're talking about Canada here, but try to use a magnetic strip card only card in Holland or in various places in Scandanavia and yes I have read people I believe in the Vancouver area complaining of difficulties in using their magnetic strip cards at a McDonald's.

The fact is the technology has advanced and in certain respects, American credit cards have not kept up with the latest technology. Is it a big problem? Probably not at present but every year, more and more people report difficulties in various places in using American credit cards.

Don't kill the messenger. In my travels, I have run only into one place where I had difficulty in using a magnetic strip card in the UK in London and several times in the Netherlands.

I'm sorry if you feel the word archaic is too strong but it is an increasing problem that doesn't seem to be going away.