Have Mobile Payments (Finally) Arrived?
December 6, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Based on investments, prognosticators and those that fuel the hype machine, this headline could have been written (and has) years ago. But something tangible may have occurred that mobile payments are poised to take off (really).
There have been many hurdles to the mobile payment market taking off. They included:
- Handsets. Lacked the appropriate SIM or RFID technology.
- Networks. Banks and credit card companies are notoriously slow, lack innovation and are conservative.
- Security. Communicating over unsecure mobile networks is one thing, but when financial transactions are involved, security becomes paramount.
- Merchant Acceptance. Establishing a large foot print of national and independent merchants is very difficult. In technology, we call this a problem of “scale”.
- Consumer Behavior. Consumers don’t change their behavior unless there is reason for doing so. Whether it be handheld technology, convenience, savings, security or access to locations that accept mobile payments, Consumers have not embraced mobile payments in large measure.
Checkin Madness
November 30, 2010 by admin · 6 Comments
So I claimed all my business’s local listings: Google, Facebook, Yelp, Yahoo, Bing, MerchantCircle, Foursquare, Gowalla, etc, etc. Check!
I see that many of my customers are checking in when they come to my establishment. Check!
The zaniness that follows those on the endless pursuit of Foursquare badges (I still don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want to unlock the “Douche Bag” badge) seems to have merged with the daily deal / flash sale phenomena. And now all these vendors want me to post deals to attract “newbies” (I was told I couldn’t use the term “virgin”), reward frequent “checker-inners” (is that even a word? Why the hell did WordPress spell checker accept it?) and/or lavish seminal riches upon the “king” (or “Mayor” given we ridded ourselves of Monarchy some time ago), being that person who checks in the most frequently. Read more
Mobile . . The Next Big Thing (Just Not The Only One)
November 22, 2010 by admin · 2 Comments
I was pleased to meet Paul Rosenfeld during the spring of this year. We had just launched a new Savvy Cellar Wine Bar & Wine Shop at the foot of Castro Street in Mountain View, CA. As a tech product guy and part-time wine marketing sloth, I am always on the lookout for ways to connect with new customers. Mobile marketing always sounded simple. But when I’d kick the tires on potential solutions, they usually fell down in one or more dimensions:
- complexity to configure
- administrative time required to manage
- lack of fit with other marketing activities
- cost
- inability to actually reach target consumers.
What I Learned at 140 | The Twitter Conference (round-up)
June 16, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Well its been a couple of weeks since the 140 | The Twitter Conference ended. The Twitter Conference (#twrcon) has come and gone. A NYC Twitter conference – 140 Character Conference – is now on (#140conf). And I completed my 8-part round-up of my learnings from my experience at #140tc.
- The Power of Presence. Insights from Alex Payne, Twitter API Lead.
- I am a Twitter God(ess) and So Can You! The View From Twitter Stardom with @ijustine, @missrogue and @davepeck.
Election Prediction: Obama Wins (364)
November 4, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
Obama/Biden 364
McCain/Palin 174
As of 8:30am PDT, my prediction is that Barack Obama will win the election this evening to make U.S. Presidential history.
I have been following the ups and downs of both candidates in the polls for months via Slate’s 
Poll Tracker ‘08 application on my iPhone. Rather than looking at polls that calculate popularity of the candidates on a national level, Poll Tracker takes the latest poll in each state and makes a estimate of electoral college votes. This, in the end, is how the President is elected after all.
Each state and their electoral college votes are placed into one of three categories: safe, lean and tossup.
Here’s how the numbers breakdown and how I ended up with the prediction that Obama will win:
- Obama has 273 electoral college votes that are considered “safe” and another 18 (Virginia and Nevada) that are “leaning” his way. This totals 291. Only 270 are needed to win.
- Conversely McCain has 129 “safe” votes and “12″ lean (Arizona and South Dakota); giving him 142 votes.
- 105 electoral college votes are considered “tossups”
Of the 105 “tossup” states, using the latest poll numbers in each state, I predict the following:
- Obama wins: Ohio, North Carolina, Florida and Missouri (adding an additional 73 electoral college votes to Obama)
- McCain wins: North Dakota, Montana, Georgia and Indiana (adding an additional 32 electoral college votes to McCain)
So if the “tossup” states fall as predicted above the final election tally will be:
- Obama/Biden 364
- McCain/Palin 174
Obama will win handily. Let the voting begin and (all) votes be counted!