Mobile Payments...Not Worth The Effort

Starbucks earlier this week announced they are launching a new way of paying for their caffeinated drinks through the use of our smartphones, such as the iphone and blackberry devices.  ( Mobile Payments )  These types of transactions are known as mobile payments and I don't quite understand all the hype surrounding it.  Starbucks claims that these type of transactions are faster than regular cash & credit transactions but I do not see how it is a faster transaction for the consumer.  I would first have to download the proper app for my smartphone, in this instance the Starbucks app.  Then I would have to create an account with them and either link my debit/credit card to the account or purchase a Starbucks gift card and dump that into the Starbucks account.   I have to do all of this before going to Starbucks just to purchase some coffee or tea? How about I just go to Starbucks and pay with cash or my debit card to make my life easier.  I know we all take our phones with us everywhere we go, but we also take our wallets everywhere we go...
     Another concern with Mobile Payments is the security of lack of security currently found within the software of our smartphones.  With smartphones now acting like wallets that are linked to our checking accounts hackers are going where the money is. In 2010 attacks on android smartphones quadrupled and attacks on java based smartphones were up 50%. (Attacks on Smartphones ) Until the software on our smartphones are updated to better deal with their current security flaws I for one will not be using my smartphone to make payments for anything.  Smartphones putting consumers at risk

Music Piracy...it's Good

     The music industry of today is one that is in a state of change.  On one side of the spectrum there are thousands of artists who use the internet as s distribution channel to get and share their music online for free.  On the other end of the spectrum are the large music labels who are attempting to tighten down on music piracy.  They recently were able to get the world's most popular peer-to-peer file sharing content Limewire to shut down through a court order.  (Limewire shutdown)   The internet and file sharing programs are often blamed by large music labels for the downfall of the music industry. Yet the reality is that the internet has been a blessing for these labels.  Music piracy has shown them how to create a format to sell music online and turn it into a profit.  Itunes, Rhapsody, and Amazon Music Downloads are all examples of this.  Despite the best efforts of music labels through legal remedies to stop piracy there is no effective way of even slowing it down.  A new peer-to-peer program already is up and running called Frostwire and much like a zombie Limewire is quietly back from the grave.  (Limewire returns!)
 
Music Labels make their money by promoting artists who have signed on to their labels and taking a very large percentage of the artists' album sales.  Their control over over the distribution channels of old, such as radio, gave them a lot of negotiating power over artists.  Because of this artists never made much money through album sales, they made their money through their tours. (Highest Grossing Tours of 2010)   Today the Internet is being used by more and more artists and independent music labels to reach millions of customers without the "help" of large music labels.  This is the real reason why the music industry is against "piracy."  They are the middle-man in this operation and they are slowly being cut out.  Studies conducted by large music labels even show that their "research shows that only 10% of all illegal downloads are considered to be a loss in sales."(Piracy & Sales) So the next time you hear the complaints from the music industry about losses due to piracy, don't believe the hype.

The FTC and Web-Tracking

        At the beginning of this month the Federal Trade Commission released a guide for consumers and businesses regarding online privacy issues.  One interesting recommendation is the "Do Not Track" option, which would give consumers the choice whether they would want their information on their internet behavior collected and used for targeted marketing or not.  Businesses have been using these online tracking techniques to specifically target their products to what they perceive to be interested consumers for years.  Consumers have claimed that this type of collection violates their privacy rights.  Much of the FTC guide however is quite vague.  It calls for "reasonable"measures in data collection and to have "reasonable" security measures in the security of this data.  The question then becomes who determines what reasonable is?  Will it be the consumers, who are against the tracking of their internet browsing, or will it be the corporations who are doing the tracking to specifically market their ads to consumers.  I predict that the corporations will be the ones to determine what "reasonable" is.  With corporations in the wallets of politicians they will get what they want and it usually is at the expense of the individual.  
       Interestingly enough, in an attempt to regain users web browser users, Microsoft has claimed that their next version of Internet Explorer will allow users to block such tracking techniques.  Internet Explorer was once the most popular browser on the web, but now ranks a distant 4th place.  Mozilla, maker of the web's most popular browser today, initially developed a tool for their bowser which would have blocked these type of tracking measures.  Unfortunately they scrapped the project fearing a possible backlash from ad agencies that they work with.  Even though web browsers do allow for tracking, browsers such as Firefox, Safari, and Google Chrome also allow extensions for their specific browsers.  Extensions are small software add-ons for web browsers that enhance the functionality and use of a web browser.  A popular extension that exists is one known as AdBlocker.  Now AdBlocker doesn't block the tracking of your web browsing, but it does block a majority of the targeted ads that we see when browsing the internet.  So if you are tired of being bombarded by ads as you browse the web check out AdBlocker for your respective internet browser to take out a majority of those annoying ads.
    

Groupon

   Groupon makes money by getting a percentage revenues from the retailer or restaurant that offered a deal.  Even if one deal is not very profitable, Groupon stands to and recently has become extremely profitable because they offer at least one deal every day. While making a profit Groupon also helps small local businesses find new customers.  For local mom and pop shops Groupon has become a popular and successful alternative to to conventional advertising.  This new form of advertising allows local businesses to pay for real results that come from Groupon deals.  Groupon has become so successful that they are now expanding into the Asian market.  They launched Groupon Japan this past summer, They recently acquired uBuyiBuy, Beeconmic, and Atlaspost which has relaunched as Groupon Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan.  (Groupon in Asia)
Groupon's success has recently got the attention of a well known corporate giant known as Google.  (Google Interested in Groupon)    Questions have risen whether Groupon shouldd allow themselves to be bought out.  From the perspective of  Groupons current owners the answer is a resounding yes. Even though I would no longer consider Groupon a small business anymore.  This is a small business owners dream, to be able to create a unique product or service and be able to sell it off to the largest interested buyer in the market.  Groupon should act quickly to sell to Google because there have been a large number of copycats that have copied Groupon's model of business and can possibly end Groupon's reign of success.