The Elusive Master Wallet

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.

Seamlessness and Google Wallet

I want to be mad at Google. I really do. When they screw up, it's so monumentally public, as in the nymwars. But then I read a story, and realize, just maybe, that there might be some kind of underlying method to their madness. I just read a story via Virtual News Now that seems to support this cockamamie concept. The complete story is from NFCNews.com.

Permit me to quote a few paragraphs from the end of the article:
(Google Vice President of Payments Osama Bedier says) it is not being in both the online and physical worlds that is key. It is moving seamlessly, stealthily between the two … in and out as if there were no separation. Where Groupon connected the dots between physical and online, Bedier wants to erase the dots.

He talks about the future retail experience like a kid describing a new game console. Imagine when any offer you see online can be instantly added to your phone with a quick tap. If you choose, these offers can even be pushed to you based on your preferences and current location. Enter your local grocery store and receive a reminder of your frequently purchased items, your shopping list and a series of special offers on items you might enjoy.

He says that eventually the actual items will be tagged with NFC chips rather than bar codes. Tap them as you fill your cart and then tap the phone on the payment terminal as you exit the store. No more lines.

Even in this idyllic discussion, he can’t avoid one more inadvertent nose tweak to another audience subset. He circles back correcting himself, explaining that you won’t even need to tap at the payment terminal because the phone will be the POS too.

“The consumer holds the payment tool and the terminal,” he laughs. “POS today is an artifact of the old way. Smart phones are more capable.”

The conference moderator reminds him, only half-jokingly, that a number of POS terminal manufacturers are also in the room.

He grins. “That comment wasn’t for them.”

My own ideas of seamlessness go as far back as early concepts of the semantic web. I had idyllic notions of just asking a search engine where something was, and instead of X number of lists, I'd get one correct answer. One. What it was, where it was located, if it had a price and how much, etc. On a wireless PDA. Palm was the reigning champ then. Phones were just reducing from bricks to candy bars by then.

Doggone it, Google, stop messing with my head. Either I'm going to hate you and leave you, or you're going to be that lover who breaks my heart, but keeps begging for forgiveness and lavishing me with tantalizing "I'm sorry" gifts.