4 ms·

> Would there be a better way to implement P2P payments without a cryptocurrency? Yes: to not implement them at all.

by bromuro 5y ago

powerslacker 5y ago
Can you elaborate?
- z3c0 5y ago
  Personally, I don't understand why a browser needs payment functionality at all, P2P or not.
  - rollcat 5y ago
    I like Apple Pay support in Safari, and use it wherever it's available. I'm not a fan of cryptocurrencies by any measure, but I can understand why people would like that.
    - beebeepka 5y ago
      Care to explain what does it mean to have payment support in the browser. Not entirely sure what apple pay is
      - rollcat 5y ago
        I see a "Pay with Apple" button (doesn't appear if you're not using Safari, I guess). I click it, and Safari pops up an OS-level dialog, prompting for TouchID / FaceID / Apple Watch / password authorisation. I authorise the payment, the goods are paid. Works on Mac, iOS, etc. The card is the same one I use to pay for stuff in a shop, so basically buying groceries and buying things online are like the same thing, one click/tap away. It's pretty neat, if you don't mind Apple being a middle man.
- pmontra 5y ago
  Not OP but why do I want payment implemented inside the browser?
  - freedomben 5y ago
    For this and sibling comment asking basically the same question, I typed an answer here that I hope is helpful: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30969911 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30969911
  - barnabee 5y ago
    I don’t know about you but I hate ads and like to pay for my content, I also don’t see why I’d want to give money to intermediaries every time I pay for something. Why would I be against payments being built into browsers in a standardised and open source, open standards way if it might eventually solve those problems?
    - blitzar 5y ago
      > I don’t know about you but I hate ads and like to pay for my content Since when has paying for content meant no ads? I pay for a newspaper - ads, I pay for cable tv - ads, I pay for the internet - ads, I pay road tax - ads, I go to the cinema - ads, I buy a ticket to a sporting event - ads. That is before we get to the influencer product placement world.
      - robbedpeter 5y ago
        You can get ad-free content. Things like substack, YouTube premium, Netflix, some newspapers, lots of patreon clients, etc. That ads still exist in other places where you've ostensibly paid for the content doesn't invalidate the op's preferences.
        blitzar 5y ago
        The ads still exist in the places you have paid for them, in litterally every example you gave. Netflix shows are giant ads. YouTube content has litteral ad reads in them. Newspapers - lol. You can get ad packed content free, you can get ad-free content, you can get paid content that has ads, or paid content that is ad-free. The "I paid for it" input has zero weight when it comes to determining if the content has ads is sponsored, infuenced or otherwise paid for.

> Would there be a better way to implement P2P payments without a cryptocurrency? Yes: to not implement them at all.

powerslacker 5y ago

Can you elaborate?

z3c0 5y ago
Personally, I don't understand why a browser needs payment functionality at all, P2P or not.
- rollcat 5y ago
  I like Apple Pay support in Safari, and use it wherever it's available. I'm not a fan of cryptocurrencies by any measure, but I can understand why people would like that.
  - beebeepka 5y ago
    Care to explain what does it mean to have payment support in the browser. Not entirely sure what apple pay is
    - rollcat 5y ago
      I see a "Pay with Apple" button (doesn't appear if you're not using Safari, I guess). I click it, and Safari pops up an OS-level dialog, prompting for TouchID / FaceID / Apple Watch / password authorisation. I authorise the payment, the goods are paid. Works on Mac, iOS, etc. The card is the same one I use to pay for stuff in a shop, so basically buying groceries and buying things online are like the same thing, one click/tap away. It's pretty neat, if you don't mind Apple being a middle man.
pmontra 5y ago
Not OP but why do I want payment implemented inside the browser?
- freedomben 5y ago
  For this and sibling comment asking basically the same question, I typed an answer here that I hope is helpful: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30969911 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30969911
- barnabee 5y ago
  I don’t know about you but I hate ads and like to pay for my content, I also don’t see why I’d want to give money to intermediaries every time I pay for something. Why would I be against payments being built into browsers in a standardised and open source, open standards way if it might eventually solve those problems?
  - blitzar 5y ago
    > I don’t know about you but I hate ads and like to pay for my content Since when has paying for content meant no ads? I pay for a newspaper - ads, I pay for cable tv - ads, I pay for the internet - ads, I pay road tax - ads, I go to the cinema - ads, I buy a ticket to a sporting event - ads. That is before we get to the influencer product placement world.
    - robbedpeter 5y ago
      You can get ad-free content. Things like substack, YouTube premium, Netflix, some newspapers, lots of patreon clients, etc. That ads still exist in other places where you've ostensibly paid for the content doesn't invalidate the op's preferences.
      - blitzar 5y ago
        The ads still exist in the places you have paid for them, in litterally every example you gave. Netflix shows are giant ads. YouTube content has litteral ad reads in them. Newspapers - lol. You can get ad packed content free, you can get ad-free content, you can get paid content that has ads, or paid content that is ad-free. The "I paid for it" input has zero weight when it comes to determining if the content has ads is sponsored, infuenced or otherwise paid for.