From: "Antti Kurenniemi" 

It's less stuff to carry around (I don't like dragging a wallet with me,
especially in the summer), and you get all your payments detailed in the
phone bill, which is kinda nice and clear. I regularly pay my parking and
bus fare with my phone, and sometimes I rent a DVD from the local kiosk and
pay it with my phone.  We've also got a lot of soda / candy / map / coffee
dispensers here and there from which you can order the goods with your
phone. Oh, and none of these require any special phone or anything like
that, I don't really get that part - it almost destroys the whole idea IMO.


Antti Kurenniemi

"Dave Ings"  wrote in message news:44202312{at}w3....
> Maybe one of our European friends can explain what the big deal is about
> paying by phone, from the consumer's point of view. So I swipe my phone
> over a reader instead of swiping a piece of plastic. So what? I'm really
> not getting what's interesting and useful here.
>
> Given how often people lose their phones (almost as often as umbrellas it
> seems!) I'm not at all convinced converging your credit or debit card and
> your phone is a good idea.
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/21/technology/21cell.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
>
> ATLANTA, March 16 - Roy Peek had about $40, three credit cards and a debit
> card in his wallet. But to pay for a Coke and a slice of pizza here at a
> Philips Arena concession stand, he whipped out his cellphone.
> "With this, I don't have to hurry, I don't have to stop at an A.T.M.,"
> said Mr. Peek, shortly after tapping the device against a coaster-size
> terminal that flashed lights and beeped as it billed his credit card
> account.
>
> He is one of about 150 consumers who can use specially equipped mobile
> phones inside the arena as part of a study by a group of payment and
> wireless companies. "Once I'm hungry, I am going to use my phone for
> food," Mr. Peek said.
>
> The promise of phones that double as digital wallets is not new. Consumers
> in many Asian and European countries have bought everything from
> convenience store trinkets to subway tickets using their mobile handsets
> for years. But the idea has largely been a gadget geek's fantasy here in
> the United States.
>
> Only recently have American banks and wireless companies begun developing
> mobile payment products. Now, the next wave of technology could wash
> ashore within two years.
> --
> Regards,
> Dave Ings,
> Toronto, Canada
>
>
>

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