When you get past all of the emotional trappings, your money is nothing more than a symbol of value, and it’s only as good as the trust we place in it. This TED talk suggests that we may be headed into an era of multiple monies.
Category: 8.3 Specialized Networks: From GPS to Digital Money
Smart phones and tablets are changing the way we shop, and the change is happening at digital speeds. In some stores, you can pay by flashing your smart phone and have a receipt mailed from the clerk’s tablet. No cash, no plastic cards, no paper, no waiting. This NPR story surveys the world of mobile-tech shopping.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2012/12/10/166890714/forget-the-register-stores-use-mobile-to-make-sales-on-the-spot
QR Codes–those odd, pixellated squares that are popping up on everything from business cards to billboards–are designed to make it easy for people to use their phones to get more information quickly. But as this NPR story suggests, a newer technology called near-field communication has the potential to make QR codes seem as old-fashioned as Pac-Man.
If you’d like to try making your own QR codes for free, like the one pictured here (the code for this site) try this Online QR Generator.
This summer some consumers will be able to pay for some of their purchases by waving their phones instead of swiping their cards. Google Wallet is an Android App that uses near-field communication technology to send transaction information from phone to merchant terminal. This kind of technology could eventually change the way we do most of our face-to-face shopping.
This New York Times article includes a demo video.