4 ms·

How Twitter could be worth a billion dollars in a year: Mobile payments

7 points by fromedome 18y ago

TweedHeads 18y ago
What stops Jaiku from stealing Twitter's thunder? I bet Google has way more resources and brilliant minds to see it go live before twitter even think on the database design. Mix with google checkout and there you have a killer payment option.
j2d2 18y ago
I agree that the microblogging was an convenient excuse for building an infrastructure. I think this is why Jeff Bezos is excited about Twitter.
jonknee 18y ago
This is nothing but fluff. Amazon and PayPal already do this and (not surprisingly) it's not too popular. I'd rather just buy you a damn beer at the bar than send you a few bucks. I'd much prefer RFID inside mobile phones to catch on so that I can just do payments with it instead of cash/cards.
- bprater 18y ago
  Paypal isn't popular? Ruh? Amazon isn't popular because it didn't create a "killer app" for the concept. I think the idea is fucking brilliant. Instead of ad injection for revenue, take Paypal on directly. I'm a buy-my-buddy-a-beer kind of guy, too -- but there are circumstances where it would be convenient to move money to family and friends. If my brother buys me movie tickets because I'm getting to the theater late, twittering him payment during previews beats trying to mentally remember how much I owe him when I am buying ice cream later. If you are already familiar with the Twitter UI, it isn't a stretch to learn an additional command.
  - jonknee 18y ago
    PayPal and Amazon are extremely popular. Their mobile payment services, while quite easy to use, are not popular. I think PayPal even shuttered their SMS service and is keeping with the mobile site. Amazon's was actually a YCombinator startup (TextPayMe.com). If you're looking to pay your brother for ice cream, get on it: https://payments.amazon.com/sdui/sdui/productsServices?sn=mobilePayments/whatIsIt https://payments.amazon.com/sdui/sdui/productsServices?sn=mo... It's almost exactly what this clown thinks is going to make Twitter with a billion dollars, but already in existence and not worth a billion dollars. Oh and you can count on Amazon's service working for more than 10 minutes without going down. That's gotta be worth something.
stcredzero 18y ago
If Twitter could make it really easy to pay for something, then tweet about stuff you liked, this would be gold! Marketers would be drooling over this stuff. Also, this opens the path to micropayments. Another drooly - enable the infrastructure as a series of browser plug-ins. This way, every site becomes a part of the system by default.
- sanj 18y ago
  Right. Because every internet user spends time installing browser plugins.
lpgauth 18y ago
I have to pay $0.15 for each SMS I send. I'd rather use my credit card.
- ivankirigin 18y ago
  Each credit card transaction costs someone at least $0.15. You just don't see it.
  - lpgauth 18y ago
    I don't pay it, the retailer does.
    - ivankirigin 18y ago
      And you think this doesn't influence the price you pay?
markbao 18y ago
This sounds like PayPal's original intention: transfer money using Palm devices. PayPal/Max Levchin Interview, Founders at Work, Jessica Livingston, 2007.

7 points by fromedome 18y ago

What stops Jaiku from stealing Twitter's thunder? I bet Google has way more resources and brilliant minds to see it go live before twitter even think on the database design. Mix with google checkout and there you have a killer payment option.

j2d2 18y ago

I agree that the microblogging was an convenient excuse for building an infrastructure. I think this is why Jeff Bezos is excited about Twitter.

jonknee 18y ago

This is nothing but fluff. Amazon and PayPal already do this and (not surprisingly) it's not too popular. I'd rather just buy you a damn beer at the bar than send you a few bucks. I'd much prefer RFID inside mobile phones to catch on so that I can just do payments with it instead of cash/cards.

bprater 18y ago
Paypal isn't popular? Ruh? Amazon isn't popular because it didn't create a "killer app" for the concept. I think the idea is fucking brilliant. Instead of ad injection for revenue, take Paypal on directly. I'm a buy-my-buddy-a-beer kind of guy, too -- but there are circumstances where it would be convenient to move money to family and friends. If my brother buys me movie tickets because I'm getting to the theater late, twittering him payment during previews beats trying to mentally remember how much I owe him when I am buying ice cream later. If you are already familiar with the Twitter UI, it isn't a stretch to learn an additional command.
- jonknee 18y ago
  PayPal and Amazon are extremely popular. Their mobile payment services, while quite easy to use, are not popular. I think PayPal even shuttered their SMS service and is keeping with the mobile site. Amazon's was actually a YCombinator startup (TextPayMe.com). If you're looking to pay your brother for ice cream, get on it: https://payments.amazon.com/sdui/sdui/productsServices?sn=mobilePayments/whatIsIt https://payments.amazon.com/sdui/sdui/productsServices?sn=mo... It's almost exactly what this clown thinks is going to make Twitter with a billion dollars, but already in existence and not worth a billion dollars. Oh and you can count on Amazon's service working for more than 10 minutes without going down. That's gotta be worth something.

stcredzero 18y ago

If Twitter could make it really easy to pay for something, then tweet about stuff you liked, this would be gold! Marketers would be drooling over this stuff. Also, this opens the path to micropayments. Another drooly - enable the infrastructure as a series of browser plug-ins. This way, every site becomes a part of the system by default.

sanj 18y ago
Right. Because every internet user spends time installing browser plugins.

lpgauth 18y ago

I have to pay $0.15 for each SMS I send. I'd rather use my credit card.

ivankirigin 18y ago
Each credit card transaction costs someone at least $0.15. You just don't see it.
- lpgauth 18y ago
  I don't pay it, the retailer does.
  - ivankirigin 18y ago
    And you think this doesn't influence the price you pay?

markbao 18y ago

This sounds like PayPal's original intention: transfer money using Palm devices. PayPal/Max Levchin Interview, Founders at Work, Jessica Livingston, 2007.