Contactless Purchases

While I think the idea behind contact-less purchases is pretty cool, I'm not sure it's the revolution people seem to think it is.  I don't believe people will really leave their credit cards at home because they can use the NFC technology in their phone.  We'll still have to carry both around because of our government IDs.  I can only imagine this technology pissing me off as I wait in line behind someone fumbling around with their phone, trying to unlock it, open the program, pick their electronic card, enter their pin...  It'll be almost as bad as those stupid old ladies that use their check books at the grocery store.

At the end of the day, your old-technology credit card will be able to be whipped out, swiped, and you're on your way.  No lock screens, pins, or potential of leaving it on the bar at the end of the night.  I can't tell you how many times I've misplaced my phone.  I rarely misplace my wallet.

The Fast Company article talks about putting NFC in Ultrabooks as well.  I can just imagine someone trying to make a purchase with their ultrabook. That seems even more awkward and slow than on a phone.

I can just imagine that I'm out on the town, with all my credit cards at home, and I lose my phone.  Now I need to not only purchase a new phone, but cancel my credit cards as well.  But if I cancel my credit cards, I can't buy a new phone.  But not to worry because I CAN'T cancel my credit cards because I don't HAVE a phone.

I think this technology will catch on eventually, but not until Apple puts it in the iPhone.  Google is trying to get the technology going, but not enough of the Android phones have NFC.  While millions of Andoid phones are sold each year, there are a 100 different models and only a few (2 I think) have NFC.  If Apple puts it in the iPhone 5, then I think there will be enough of a critical mass for merchants to actually start putting the technology at the checkout.

Fast Company: MasterCard Emerging Payments Chief Provides More Proof Apple's Looking Into Smartphone Contactless Payments

http://goo.gl/mag/yZJbU

Is Google really that evil, or are they making our internet better?

If you believe all the crap in the news the last two days, you'd think that Google finally broke their "Don't be evil" motto.  Most of the news agencies (Fox, I'm looking at you) would have you think that Google's new privacy policy was created by the Devil himself.  They're collecting everything you do on the internet and are selling it to the communists.  The reality about their new policy is not even close to that.

Previously, Google had a privacy policy for each of their products (Gmail, YouTube, Picasa, Blogger...)  As a knowledgeable internet user, you would have to read every single policy, and monitor each site for changes to the policy.  Now they've combined every site into one.  It's like The Lord of the Rings.  One policy to rule them all.  That's probably a bad example when I'm trying to say they're not evil...  As a user though, now I only have to monitor one policy.

Furthermore, by combining everything into one policy and one database of information, the ads that Google targets towards me will be more relevant and I'm more likely to find something I want or need.  Most folks would agree that we hate all the ads on the internet, but if they are more relevant to what we want, they become less annoying and more useful.  When I see an ad for a GED program aimed at ex military members, it's just downright annoying how incorrect it is.  I'm not ex-military for one, and I already have my GED.  Once that ad is actually for something I want, like nerdy android toys at reasonable prices, then it's not quite as annoying.

Another example of the news blowing technology out of proportion was the coverage of Carrier IQ a few weeks ago.  One blogger posted a video on YouTube about how the software on your smart phone was tracking each phone call, each text message, and where you are with GPS.  The privacy fools freaked out.  It turns out that the reality was much lamer than the coverage.  Carrier IQ was recording this data for the cell phone carriers.  They'd use the data to know when and where folks were making phone calls, or texting, and using that data to determine where to build new towers.  They would know if a call was dropped, a text didn't go through, and would use that to build out their network.  The same folks that complained about this data being recorded also complained when AT&T dropped their call.

The thing is, all the data that Carrier IQ collected, was already being collected by AT&T directly.  They knew where your phone was based off which cell tower you called through.  They know every single phone number that you call, every phone that you text, and every website that you visit.  They didn't need Carrier IQ.  They could have collected it themselves.  Carrier IQ was just a more convenient way to do it.

The worst part of the story is how every phone manufacturer removed it from their phone based off the backlash from consumers.  All this company did was help make your mobile service better, by making it easier to collect information that was already being collect.  Now it's probably going to go out of business based off some bloggers and papers who don't understand technology, and some folks are going to lose their jobs.  AT&T in the mean time, is still collecting all that same information.

Next time people start to freak out about privacy on the internet, think about your Internet Service Provider first.  They know literally every single web site you've ever visited.  Every term you've ever searched, and all the seedy things you wish folks didn't know.  Everyone is getting wound up about Google's privacy policy, but have you ever thought to read Comcast's?

SOPA and PIPA

Right now the music and movie industries are waging a war against “online pirates.”  These pirates are being blamed for the lower sales figures and revenues seen by the studios over the past decade.  While I recognize that piracy is a real issue, I don’t buy the argument that it costs them as much money as they claim.  The fact of the matter is that the digital medium has fundamentally changed the industry in favor of the consumer.  The power is now in the hands of the individual, who can more precisely target his investments and purchases, or access content for free on the internet.  The lower sales figures are not the fault of pirates, but a dramatic change in the industry that sadly is forcing them to shrink.  Much like the railroad when cars were developed, as technology moves forward, some industries get left behind.

Back when I was in high school, if I had $30 to spend on music, I could only afford 3 CDs.  On those three CDs, there was probably only 4 or 5 singles that got radio play, and a lot of the other music was just not that great.  Now that iTunes is on the scene, a teenage today can spend his $30 on 30 singles from 30 different artists.  Studios will throw out the figure that album sales are down, which is true.  But I no longer have to pay for 7 crappy songs with my 3 good ones.  I don’t need an album anymore.  I can tailor my investment in music to only the songs I really want.

While this is good for the consumer (I get a lot more good music,) it’s bad for some of the artists.  The band that used to get $10 from me now only gets $1.  While on the surface that looks bad for the industry, I would argue that it’s good for consumer’s music diversity.  If I could only buy 3 CDs, I’m probably going to purchase them from the really big names.  Metallica, Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin would get a lot of money, but the folk artist and indie bands would not get anything.  Now that I can purchase just the songs I want, I can buy the good songs from each of those bands albums, and still have $20 to spend on more obscure, lesser known bands.  The big guys lose money, but the little bands benefit.

Another, perhaps larger source of lost revenue is the plethora of streaming sights out there that stream for free.  Pretty much everyone I know uses Pandora, Spotify, or RDio to stream music onto their phones or personal computers.  I can now tailor my music to just the bands I really like, all for free.  Why purchase music when I have Spotify?

I think that the internet further helps the music consumer because it’s easier for talent to be discovered.  Whether it’s Myspace, or Youtube, new singers and bands are being discovered all the time by regular folks watching viral videos.  Would Justin Bieber be famous today if we had to rely on the big studios to find all the talent for us?  I doubt it.  He’d just be some punk kid singing at his school talent show.

I won’t dispute that the music industry has lower sales than they use to have, but I don’t really think it’s due to pirates.  Back in the Napster days, every single person I knew pirated music.  Today, I could probably only name one or two friends who do.  The 99 cent songs on iTunes, or the low monthly payments for XM-Sirius prove that folks are willing to pay for music.  The cost has to be low enough and the format convenient and people will pay.

Does piracy happen? Absolutely.  Is it the reason that music studios are not making as much money as they use to?  No.  I blame technology, but as a consumer, I love it.  I no longer have to listen to the same Top 40 crap that they push out over the radio.  I get a larger selection of music, and stretch my discretionary spending further.

And here we go...

My New Year's resolution for 2012 is to ignore Facebook and Google+ (for the most part) and focus more on writing blog posts about things that interest me.  While I often use FB and G+ to drive conversations about different things, its small form factor make it a very poor choice for really making a point.  The blog is a more ideal choice because it actually forces me to put together a coherent thought and record it instead of just posting a small 3-sentence statement on FB.

So what are you going to see here going forward?  Most likely you will see a lot of posts about technology and different toys/Apps that I'm playing with at the moment.  Perhaps a few posts about politics or the economy, certainly some investing tips/tricks/thoughts are in line since that is one of my favorite pastimes.  There will also be the occasional post about my beautiful family, but since Sarah has her own blog now about the Bishop Kids, I'll try not to steal too much of her thunder with my well written, flowing, golden prose.