Will smartphones finally make the mobile wallet a reality?
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No. Small cash purchases are zero infrastructure. There's no way a market stallholder, roadside farm shop etc is going to make the capital investment for a magic 'electronic wallet' reader, particularly as doing so will not increase their revenue. So unless governments are going to provide them for free, cash will always remain necessary. There are also enough people who seriously espouse the sort of data recording aversion that DD mentions to ensure that cash can't be eliminated. Other forms of 'electronic money' (debit/credit cards) are more replaceable – they're already electronic devices, after all. However, there is a large amount of physical and electronic infrastructure already devoted to working with them and something new would have to be significantly more convenient to use to be worth attempting to replicate all that.
BobJanova wrote:
There's no way a market stallholder, roadside farm shop etc is going to make the capital investment for a magic 'electronic wallet' reader
Actually a lot of small retailers are just pulling their own iPhones out of their back pocket and letting you transfer the money with a bump.
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Just doesn't make any cents.
I may be schizophrenic, but at least I have each other.
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At the time of the discussion, I hadn't seen it and didn't want spoilers. I think it is excellent, slick and glossy, as you would expect from the Americans, but with enough influence from this side of the pond to keep it British and Enjoyable. I think the writing has a lot to do with it.
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave CCC Link[^] Trolls[^]
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You wouldn't Quid me would you?
I may be schizophrenic, but at least I have each other.
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At the time of the discussion, I hadn't seen it and didn't want spoilers. I think it is excellent, slick and glossy, as you would expect from the Americans, but with enough influence from this side of the pond to keep it British and Enjoyable. I think the writing has a lot to do with it.
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave CCC Link[^] Trolls[^]
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Sorry to trump you, but this[^] is my screwdriver.
Panic, Chaos, Destruction. My work here is done. Drink. Get drunk. Fall over - P O'H OK, I will win to day or my name isn't Ethel Crudacre! - DD Ethel Crudacre I cannot live by bread alone. Bacon and ketchup are needed as well. - Trollslayer Have a bit more patience with newbies. Of course some of them act dumb - they're often *students*, for heaven's sake - Terry Pratchett
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BobJanova wrote:
There's no way a market stallholder, roadside farm shop etc is going to make the capital investment for a magic 'electronic wallet' reader
Actually a lot of small retailers are just pulling their own iPhones out of their back pocket and letting you transfer the money with a bump.
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I look at it this way... I need to carry an ID. Even if I get a smartphone, this won't be replaced. If I'm carrying one card, it's just as easy to carry another (credit/debit card). In fact, it's better, since two cards back-to-back are less likely to bend or fold than just one, which might damage them. If I'm carrying around two cards anyway, adding a little folding money doesn't change much Since I'm carrying all of those things, it makes sense to have a container for them, so they aren't just shuffling around in my pocket... Hmm, how about a wallet? And so on... Now, metal coins, on the other hand, I could do without... Especially pennies ($0.01)... No one cares about pennies anymore. The metal used to make the penny is worth more than the penny, so it's time to retire this useless waste of space.
Proud to have finally moved to the A-Ark. Which one are you in?
Author of the Guardians Saga (Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels)I don’t like the quarters, they are too heavy. I know they are useful (parking meters, laundry, highway exact change etc.) but 6 – 8 quarters in my wallet weights much more than the entire content together with the wallet itself.
There is only one Ashley Judd and Salma Hayek is her prophet! Advertise here – minimum three posts per day are guaranteed.
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Many years ago, when I lived alone, a 12 pack of toilet roll would last over a year. After Michelle moved in, a 12 pack wouldn't last a month. When her sister came to stay with us (Came for a couple of weeks, stayed for 6 years!) a 12 pack lasted about 10 days!
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave CCC Link[^] Trolls[^]
6 years? Hopefully the sister offered some form of payment for such a long stay.
Driven to the ARMs by x86.
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That's a subtitle I read in a magazine recently. Now, lets look at that again. Firstly my leather wallet containing round shiny metal object and pieces of paper with the queens head on them, is strangely mobile and has been since the day I purchased it. Come to think of it, all my previously wallets have also be highly mobile as has my father's, and his father's and his father's (and so on) before him. Now do I really want to use a phone as a method of payment? How may times has your battery on your mobile failed you compared to the battery on your smartcard/debit/credit card? How many times have you dropped your phone, only for it to break compared to your debit card? I think this is one of those technology-for-technology-sake situations. I think I'll give that a miss thankyou.
Steve Jowett ------------------------- Real Programmers don't need comments -- the code is obvious.
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Also, how do you tip a stripper with your smartphone? Sticking your phone in her g-string doesn't seem like it'd have the same effect? Slightly off-topic, but I was in Vegas last week and I was a little disappointed to find that none of the slot machines actually take coins anymore. No coins mean no sound of coins jingling as people win (usually less than they put in) money. I kinda felt like something was lost by doing away with the buckets of quarters.
Wjousts wrote:
Sticking your phone in her g-string doesn't seem like it'd have the same effect?
I don't care how I get my tip in her g-string, so long as she doesn't give me anything to keep in return.
Driven to the ARMs by x86.
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My point wasn't about the numbers it was about the "capital investment" - there is none. A lot of people already have smartphones, and the ability to transfer money is now an app download and bump away. And anecdotally - I've seen it in 2 local mom & pops myself.
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Wjousts wrote:
Sticking your phone in her g-string doesn't seem like it'd have the same effect?
I don't care how I get my tip in her g-string, so long as she doesn't give me anything to keep in return.
Driven to the ARMs by x86.
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That's a subtitle I read in a magazine recently. Now, lets look at that again. Firstly my leather wallet containing round shiny metal object and pieces of paper with the queens head on them, is strangely mobile and has been since the day I purchased it. Come to think of it, all my previously wallets have also be highly mobile as has my father's, and his father's and his father's (and so on) before him. Now do I really want to use a phone as a method of payment? How may times has your battery on your mobile failed you compared to the battery on your smartcard/debit/credit card? How many times have you dropped your phone, only for it to break compared to your debit card? I think this is one of those technology-for-technology-sake situations. I think I'll give that a miss thankyou.
Steve Jowett ------------------------- Real Programmers don't need comments -- the code is obvious.
and of course, if an authorized user can change the data on it, anybody can (if they mess with it enough ;P ) No system is completely secure... No matter how many pen tests they do, it is impossible to figure out every possible exploit. In my opinion, completely impractical and just tech for tech's sake (and also, smartphones cost >$200. You can pick up a wallet at your local WalMart for <$10 ;) )
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Sorry to trump you, but this[^] is my screwdriver.
Panic, Chaos, Destruction. My work here is done. Drink. Get drunk. Fall over - P O'H OK, I will win to day or my name isn't Ethel Crudacre! - DD Ethel Crudacre I cannot live by bread alone. Bacon and ketchup are needed as well. - Trollslayer Have a bit more patience with newbies. Of course some of them act dumb - they're often *students*, for heaven's sake - Terry Pratchett
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My point wasn't about the numbers it was about the "capital investment" - there is none. A lot of people already have smartphones, and the ability to transfer money is now an app download and bump away. And anecdotally - I've seen it in 2 local mom & pops myself.
ability to transfer money is now an app download and bump away and ditto for the hacker / thieves - infect the phone and all is gone - won't have to be anywhere near you to rob you blind :sigh:
Steve _________________ I C(++) therefore I am
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and of course, if an authorized user can change the data on it, anybody can (if they mess with it enough ;P ) No system is completely secure... No matter how many pen tests they do, it is impossible to figure out every possible exploit. In my opinion, completely impractical and just tech for tech's sake (and also, smartphones cost >$200. You can pick up a wallet at your local WalMart for <$10 ;) )
Hmmm, I need a new wallet - WalMart here I come :) :thumbsup:
Steve _________________ I C(++) therefore I am
