From a description of Seoul, South Korea, “the world’s most wired city,” by Lauren Collins

Passengers watched live television, via DMB [Digital Multimedia Broadcasting, a digital transmission technology developed in South Korea], and read comic books, the best of which were now available exclusively through the Internet search providers who commissioned them. Trains arrived every ninety seconds, announced by piped-in birdsong. On the platforms were kiosks with forty-six-inch touchscreens. They showed movie trailers, monitored exchange rates, dispensed coupons, and made restaurant recommendations, Nearby, a resident could order groceries from a virtual supermarket by scanning QR codes [Quick Response Codes, a matrix barcode] that corresponded to the desired items, which would be delivered to his house in a matter of hours. A commuter who needed to connect to a bus could check the availability -- not on a bus schedule but on a digital map that charted buses in real time. Even though millions of people rode buses, you hardly ever saw crowds waiting at a bus stop.

Lauren Collins, from her article “The Love App: Romance in the world’s most wired city,” The New Yorker, November 25, 2013, p. 88.