Ever since Google made their announcement that they would be doing a wallet for their Android OS, It seems that everyone has been jostling for a piece of the pie. Google, Paypal, Amazon, MasterCard and Visa have all pushed to be the premier "go to" service. But not one of them has been able to see beyond using "coin of the realm" for making purchases. Which is really limiting themselves. Why should I use any of their wallet systems, when all I need to do is swipe a piece of plastic?
The world is changing. Anyone that doesn't realize that fiat money is all digital really needs to educate themselves. Especially now that FinCEN has declared that true digital currencies earned from gaming can indeed be tracked, regulated, and most importantly, without emphasizing it, taxed.
What *I* need and want, not what some financial conglomerate *thinks* I want, is an app that I can put my Gaia Online, Second Life, IMVU, Bitcoin, and whatever other digital points and coupons into. I want to use those values, because FinCEN says they're values. AS fiat money! That app needs to go to whatever international financial center that says "On this day, that measurement of value is worth such and such. Go spend it!" I shouldn't have to go to a third party exchange and turn L$ into US$. Now I have nothing against third party exchanges. They're the ironic link between the virtual and the physical. But the tech exists to do this automatically. Especially when the exchanges themselves track the values daily.
Until these guys stop bickering over whether NFC or Bluetooth 4 is the best carrier and working with FinCEN or whichever agency to get those digital values, I just don't see the practicality of pulling out a wireless device, picking whichever service I choose to use, all of which have my credit card numbers, btw, and "tapping" it. It's quicker to grab the trusty leather pouch and swiping that thin plastic card directly.
The world is changing. Anyone that doesn't realize that fiat money is all digital really needs to educate themselves. Especially now that FinCEN has declared that true digital currencies earned from gaming can indeed be tracked, regulated, and most importantly, without emphasizing it, taxed.
What *I* need and want, not what some financial conglomerate *thinks* I want, is an app that I can put my Gaia Online, Second Life, IMVU, Bitcoin, and whatever other digital points and coupons into. I want to use those values, because FinCEN says they're values. AS fiat money! That app needs to go to whatever international financial center that says "On this day, that measurement of value is worth such and such. Go spend it!" I shouldn't have to go to a third party exchange and turn L$ into US$. Now I have nothing against third party exchanges. They're the ironic link between the virtual and the physical. But the tech exists to do this automatically. Especially when the exchanges themselves track the values daily.
Until these guys stop bickering over whether NFC or Bluetooth 4 is the best carrier and working with FinCEN or whichever agency to get those digital values, I just don't see the practicality of pulling out a wireless device, picking whichever service I choose to use, all of which have my credit card numbers, btw, and "tapping" it. It's quicker to grab the trusty leather pouch and swiping that thin plastic card directly.
