Every blockbuster needs a villain. We expect the villain to arrive with thunder, a scar and a sinister laugh. We rarely suspect the polite little machine sitting on the counter, blinking its blue light, asking us ever so sweetly to "tap or insert your card." Yet that is exactly where the trouble hides. The most dangerous antagonist in Kenyan retail today is not a masked intruder. It is a touchscreen PDQ terminal that cannot speak, cannot be read by touch and cannot be operated by a customer who happens to be blind. It is a villain so quiet that most business owners are cheerfully feeding it popcorn while it writes their downfall.
