> Honestly, this doesn't seem unreasonable to me. At some point, you have to cut off previous technologies because virtually everyone's moved to something better.

It is completely unreasonable, but for a different reason. This is not technology A (paper ticket) vs tecnhology B (phone).

It is about open vs. proprietary. Paper is paper, it does not forcefully tie the user to anything. A phone is a requirement to be forced to do business with one of only two megacorporations, for something completely unrelated. He wants to buy a game ticket, not a phone.

Imagine you want to buy a sandwich but are told you must first buy an earring, completely unrelated and not something you want.