Possibly the most Dutch app of all time
Often, in student houses in the Netherlands, a special list sits in the kitchen. Known as a Turflijst, or a ‘tally list’, they are used to work out who last bought toilet paper, or a crate of beer, or even salt and pepper. The lists then require divvying up by a housemate- but luckily a new app called ‘Turff’ has just launched, which is a digital alternative.
A large number of Groningen student association houses will soon receive a free tablet with a digital list. The Turff tablet uses smart software to track all expenses in a household, GIC.nl reports
The Turff was invented by students at TU Delft, who were looking for a solution for the paper lists. For example, anyone who now picks up a can of soda or a bag of crisps enters this on the tablet, so that the costs are distributed fairly (in most countries, you’d just be happy letting your housemate have a handful of crisps).
“This way you can buy everything together and you don’t have to leave the house for every snack”, says Henry Tang, co-inventor and physics student.
Because advertisements are shown as a screen saver, the tablets can be delivered free of charge. There is therefore a lot of enthusiasm for the Turff: more than 1800 houses have now registered.
“Every month we install about 70 new tablets throughout the Netherlands,” says Tang. At the moment there is already a Turff in 350 student houses.
With the help of self-learning algorithms, it can be predicted over time how much will be spent each month and when, for example, the coffee or beer will run out. In the future, the inventors hope to make a link with the delivery services of supermarkets, so that users can automatically replenish their stock. “Then you never have to worry about an empty fridge again.”
Image via Wikimedia user Santeri Viinmäki. License here.
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