Leather or digital?
Which would you prefer to use– your old wallet with a few presidents’ faces inside, or your cell phone with digital cash? Currently in Briton 200 volunteers are using Nokia phones equipped with the Near Field Communications equipment– the same used by Capital’s oyster card. These special phones double as wallets and transportation tickets. A simple swipe of the phone over a special poster and payments are made instantly. The volunteers have been given 200 pounds in an account, and have 6 months to spend it. Unfortunately, only about 1000 shops in Britain are equipped with the technology that is compatible with the phones, but there is a high potential of the “digital wallet” catching on–it is possible that a full scale launch of this technology could occur as early as the end of 2008. Right now the most useful purpose of this mobile technology is for transportation– on buses, subways, trains, etc. It makes sense that cell phones are beginning to take on even more roles, as they are already the most important possession to many people. It will be interesting to see how soon (if at all) this idea catches on in the US. The article can be found here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7117213.stm
John Goldner