5 ms·

i've been trying to say this for a while, but everything is going to move to the mobile device. as the hardware catches up, the experience is going to become a

by jmtame 17y ago

i've been trying to say this for a while, but everything is going to move to the mobile device. as the hardware catches up, the experience is going to become as ubiquitous as the desktop (or rather the laptop). your driver's license? put it on your phone. paying for something? put it on your phone. waiting in a line? just order it on your phone. there's obviously some technical barriers right now, especially with e-commerce, but it will come. social media is flavor of the day right now, but when the hardware catches up, things like wallets are going to disappear.

jsonscripter 17y ago
There's no such barriers in Japan, where it is common for one to pay for items using your cellphone. They can also order things on their phone by taking pictures of a standardized 2D barcode on a flyer or poster. The hardware has caught up, it's the telecoms that have not.
- profquail 17y ago
  Telecoms certainly have to take the first step (and they'll drag their feet the entire way), but the second step is getting people to change their lives around the technology. IMO, most of the US would still lag behind (in terms of mobile technology) even if the wireless infrastructure was upgraded because they don't really care to use it (i.e. they're happy with the way they do things now). As for this API, I think it's fantastic, but they should really take it a step further. If there's some sort of national or international consortium of retailers, they should create a free, unified API such that a good produced anywhere in the world will have an entry in the system. It'd even be cool if they added a rebate submission system into it as well, instead of having to mail in rebates for things.
  - jsonscripter 17y ago
    If you build it, they will come.
- rudyfink 17y ago
  > The hardware has caught up, it's the telecoms that have not. That statement is absolutely true. We have the technology. What we do not have is the belief/permission of those holding various monopolies (or effective ones) that opening up their networks / copyrights / business models will really provide them with a greater economic gain.
- jmtame 17y ago
  the hardware is still slow--the 3gs is nicer in terms of speed, but today's cell phones still feel a bit like operating a computer back in the early 90s. there are still plenty of crashes and delays. absolutely right though, telecoms are going to push status quo for as long as they can because that's what is profitable for them right now. but the time will eventually come, and they will change (although i admit maybe not as quickly as i hope it will; i was the kid in school dreaming of FTTH in 2000).
andrewbadera 17y ago
you and every other bandwagon futurist. no new thinking there, unless you're claiming original thought dating back, in some form or another, decades.
edw519 17y ago
"...things like wallets are going to disappear." Along with radios, televisions, CDs, trains, faxes, mail, and everything else that's been "replaced".
- sho 17y ago
  CDs have indeed been replaced for anyone below 30. Radio still offers a group experience not matched on the net, and you can't get internet radio in cars, but I wouldn't buy radio shares. Faxes are obviously old technology and will disappear when the software is easier to use. Mail will be around for as long as we respect paper docs above electronic ones but the transition is well on its way. Don't know why you thought trains would be obsolete. These things take time, but change is unambiguously, if slowly, in progress. Just wait!
- alex_c 17y ago
  I don't like radios. I want on-demand, 24/7 access to ANY music I want, ANYWHERE I want it. A radio can't do that, a mobile device, in theory, can, while also offering everything the radio offers (for example, see how many radio station apps there are on the iPhone). Television as a physical device is unlikely to be replaced - you can't beat a big screen with big sound. I don't like Television the medium, though. The sooner it gets replaced with true on-demand media, the better (again, nothing preventing it from keeping the existing "all you can eat, no thinking involved" model as a subset). CDs are definitely on their way out. Trains are a different story - many people argue that we should use trains more, not less. I HATE dealing with faxes. Of all the archaic technologies that deserve to die, faxes are at the top of the list. Many people use services that send incoming faxes directly to their email, anyway, no printing involved - why bother with the fax then, and not just simply scan and email? Mail - bills and junk mail, possibly magazines (another thing that is apparently "dying). Mail has become extremely marginalized.
smokey_the_bear 17y ago
I have a picture of my drivers license on my iPhone, and it's come in handy several times.
- frossie 17y ago
  !! I am curious under what circumstances this was. Assuming identification was required, in what way was a gif acceptable?
  - smokey_the_bear 17y ago
    Not for anything too official. I'd lost my license for a few days so it was all I had. But I showed it to a bar bouncer once. I'm 26, so it wasn't really iffy and he let me in. I also used it to get a locals discount at a ski resort. And I've used it to check what my drivers license number is.

by jmtame 17y ago

jsonscripter 17y ago

There's no such barriers in Japan, where it is common for one to pay for items using your cellphone. They can also order things on their phone by taking pictures of a standardized 2D barcode on a flyer or poster. The hardware has caught up, it's the telecoms that have not.

profquail 17y ago
Telecoms certainly have to take the first step (and they'll drag their feet the entire way), but the second step is getting people to change their lives around the technology. IMO, most of the US would still lag behind (in terms of mobile technology) even if the wireless infrastructure was upgraded because they don't really care to use it (i.e. they're happy with the way they do things now). As for this API, I think it's fantastic, but they should really take it a step further. If there's some sort of national or international consortium of retailers, they should create a free, unified API such that a good produced anywhere in the world will have an entry in the system. It'd even be cool if they added a rebate submission system into it as well, instead of having to mail in rebates for things.
- jsonscripter 17y ago
  If you build it, they will come.
rudyfink 17y ago
> The hardware has caught up, it's the telecoms that have not. That statement is absolutely true. We have the technology. What we do not have is the belief/permission of those holding various monopolies (or effective ones) that opening up their networks / copyrights / business models will really provide them with a greater economic gain.
jmtame 17y ago
the hardware is still slow--the 3gs is nicer in terms of speed, but today's cell phones still feel a bit like operating a computer back in the early 90s. there are still plenty of crashes and delays. absolutely right though, telecoms are going to push status quo for as long as they can because that's what is profitable for them right now. but the time will eventually come, and they will change (although i admit maybe not as quickly as i hope it will; i was the kid in school dreaming of FTTH in 2000).

andrewbadera 17y ago

you and every other bandwagon futurist. no new thinking there, unless you're claiming original thought dating back, in some form or another, decades.

edw519 17y ago

"...things like wallets are going to disappear." Along with radios, televisions, CDs, trains, faxes, mail, and everything else that's been "replaced".

sho 17y ago
CDs have indeed been replaced for anyone below 30. Radio still offers a group experience not matched on the net, and you can't get internet radio in cars, but I wouldn't buy radio shares. Faxes are obviously old technology and will disappear when the software is easier to use. Mail will be around for as long as we respect paper docs above electronic ones but the transition is well on its way. Don't know why you thought trains would be obsolete. These things take time, but change is unambiguously, if slowly, in progress. Just wait!
alex_c 17y ago
I don't like radios. I want on-demand, 24/7 access to ANY music I want, ANYWHERE I want it. A radio can't do that, a mobile device, in theory, can, while also offering everything the radio offers (for example, see how many radio station apps there are on the iPhone). Television as a physical device is unlikely to be replaced - you can't beat a big screen with big sound. I don't like Television the medium, though. The sooner it gets replaced with true on-demand media, the better (again, nothing preventing it from keeping the existing "all you can eat, no thinking involved" model as a subset). CDs are definitely on their way out. Trains are a different story - many people argue that we should use trains more, not less. I HATE dealing with faxes. Of all the archaic technologies that deserve to die, faxes are at the top of the list. Many people use services that send incoming faxes directly to their email, anyway, no printing involved - why bother with the fax then, and not just simply scan and email? Mail - bills and junk mail, possibly magazines (another thing that is apparently "dying). Mail has become extremely marginalized.

smokey_the_bear 17y ago

I have a picture of my drivers license on my iPhone, and it's come in handy several times.

frossie 17y ago
!! I am curious under what circumstances this was. Assuming identification was required, in what way was a gif acceptable?
- smokey_the_bear 17y ago
  Not for anything too official. I'd lost my license for a few days so it was all I had. But I showed it to a bar bouncer once. I'm 26, so it wasn't really iffy and he let me in. I also used it to get a locals discount at a ski resort. And I've used it to check what my drivers license number is.