3 ms·

The Google Wallet example is entirely disingenuous. Compare these two: 1. Get (real) wallet. 2. Find the right card. 3. Swipe the card. 4. Press 'Debit' on

by pwf 14y ago

The Google Wallet example is entirely disingenuous. Compare these two: 1. Get (real) wallet. 2. Find the right card. 3. Swipe the card. 4. Press 'Debit' on the machine. 5. Press 'No' to the cash back prompt. 6. Enter my PIN. Versus: 1. Get out phone. 2. Wake the screen. 3. Touch the phone to the machine. 4. Enter my PIN on the Google Wallet prompt that appears. 5. Confirm the payment. If they were to list the steps for paying with a normal credit card would their list include "find the teller's hand so you can give them the card"? Edit: How do I <ol>?

leviathant 14y ago
Increasingly, stores I go to do not require signatures for credit transactions under a certain dollar value. At the Home Depot (which recently started accepting Paypal - what?) I believe the limit is $50. So the steps are: 1) Get wallet 2) Find the card 3) Say "credit please" as I swipe the card 4) Get receipt.
notatoad 14y ago
I'm not sure how you interpreted the article to be saying google wallet is an ideal solution. It's still an interface, it's just a different interface. It seems to me that the whole point of the article is that both those interfaces are unnatural, and the ideal interface (aka no interface) is presented by square card case: you enter a cafe, you ask for a coffee, you get a coffee. payment is taken care of without you taking your phone out of your pocket or even thinking about it.
- pwf 14y ago
  I just thought the exaggeration of steps was ridiculous and unnecessary. I can already do something similar at local bars, but you still have to include the steps of knowing the bartender, having a running tab, getting your credit card information on file with them in the first place, etc. He conveniently leaves out all of these steps yet includes things like "find the machine".
roryokane 14y ago
> How do I <ol>? Hacker News, sadly, supports very little formatting. http://news.ycombinator.com/formatdoc http://news.ycombinator.com/formatdoc describes all the formatting HN supports for comment, submission, and user profile text. <ol> is not supported. The common workaround seems to be using separate paragraphs for each list item, though some people put the whole list in a code block instead.
greggman 14y ago
I'm used to the NFC in Japan since like 2006 1. Get out phone 2. Tap phone on sensor The end. The NFC system in Japan (standard on nearly all phones except iPhone) works by putting virtual cash into some chip that doesn't need the phone. In fact you can do it with your train pass which was the first way they did it and then later added the same chip to the phone's case. So, no need to turn on the phone or choose an app. To add cash to the chip there is an app so basically you add $50-$200 and then don't worry about it for a week or month. Since they started as train passes you can also rid all the trains, subways and buses (take a out phone, tap on sensor, done). You can even reserve seats for long distance trains on your phone, walk on the train, there's a sensor above the seat you tap to "check in". Tap it again to check out if you want to switch seats. The chip holds all the transactions on it. My 2006 Sony Vaio has a reader built in for the chip which can import that transactions for things like expense reports. I would guess that more current phones have apps for reading the chip.
- shadowfox 14y ago
  Interesting. How do they handle stolen phones?
  - greggman 14y ago
    The same as stolen wallets. You only lose the cash on the phone. The thief can't get more money from the phone as that would require passwords he doesn't know.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

by pwf 14y ago

leviathant 14y ago

Increasingly, stores I go to do not require signatures for credit transactions under a certain dollar value. At the Home Depot (which recently started accepting Paypal - what?) I believe the limit is $50. So the steps are: 1) Get wallet 2) Find the card 3) Say "credit please" as I swipe the card 4) Get receipt.

notatoad 14y ago

I'm not sure how you interpreted the article to be saying google wallet is an ideal solution. It's still an interface, it's just a different interface. It seems to me that the whole point of the article is that both those interfaces are unnatural, and the ideal interface (aka no interface) is presented by square card case: you enter a cafe, you ask for a coffee, you get a coffee. payment is taken care of without you taking your phone out of your pocket or even thinking about it.

pwf 14y ago
I just thought the exaggeration of steps was ridiculous and unnecessary. I can already do something similar at local bars, but you still have to include the steps of knowing the bartender, having a running tab, getting your credit card information on file with them in the first place, etc. He conveniently leaves out all of these steps yet includes things like "find the machine".

roryokane 14y ago

> How do I <ol>? Hacker News, sadly, supports very little formatting. http://news.ycombinator.com/formatdoc http://news.ycombinator.com/formatdoc describes all the formatting HN supports for comment, submission, and user profile text. <ol> is not supported. The common workaround seems to be using separate paragraphs for each list item, though some people put the whole list in a code block instead.

greggman 14y ago

I'm used to the NFC in Japan since like 2006 1. Get out phone 2. Tap phone on sensor The end. The NFC system in Japan (standard on nearly all phones except iPhone) works by putting virtual cash into some chip that doesn't need the phone. In fact you can do it with your train pass which was the first way they did it and then later added the same chip to the phone's case. So, no need to turn on the phone or choose an app. To add cash to the chip there is an app so basically you add $50-$200 and then don't worry about it for a week or month. Since they started as train passes you can also rid all the trains, subways and buses (take a out phone, tap on sensor, done). You can even reserve seats for long distance trains on your phone, walk on the train, there's a sensor above the seat you tap to "check in". Tap it again to check out if you want to switch seats. The chip holds all the transactions on it. My 2006 Sony Vaio has a reader built in for the chip which can import that transactions for things like expense reports. I would guess that more current phones have apps for reading the chip.

shadowfox 14y ago
Interesting. How do they handle stolen phones?
- greggman 14y ago
  The same as stolen wallets. You only lose the cash on the phone. The thief can't get more money from the phone as that would require passwords he doesn't know.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]