Years ago, I was flying 350,000 miles per year to reach clients in every corner of the globe. I am a million mile flyer on both United and American...not something I am particularly happy with. While I was in the air, away from the family, and working at 35,000 feet, I felt certain that there would come a day when all that travel wasn't necessary...in my lifetime.
So, yesterday I was on the phone with a client in New York I've only seen once face-to-face in six months; Skyping a new client in Egypt who has a program in the U.S. that is going to affect Pakistan; emailing a client in Germany about a global service; going to dinner with a prospect from Austria; and finishing the evening with a call to an old friend with a new renewable energy product in Turkey. And I didn't log one frequent flyer mile.
And none of us felt that the distance between us was a problem. Well, except for my dinner guest, who asked that I curb my enthusiasm and move back out of his personal space.
My wife, who is a psychologist, tells me that real relationships can't be formed inside the internet or telecommunications networks. I beg to differ--something I can do now that I'm not five time zones away from her. I have good friends and clients who are thousands of miles away. I met one last month when I was in Nuremberg, Germany. "So, after all these years, I finally see what you look like," she said. "You're nothing like I expected."
Well, that might be a good thing, right?
Friday, October 1, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
When Will Banks Wake Up To Mobile Payments?
Let me start off by saying that I have a client, Obopay, in this area so I am prejudiced up to a point. And yet, recent coverage by Bloomberg about the possible carrier consortium led by AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile in conjunction with the Discovery card network and Barclay’s bank—and a new study out by Sybase 365-- would seem to be a wakeup call.
In the Sybase 365 survey, for example, a third of respondents say they are interested in buying goods and services using their mobile phone, and they say they would be prepared to pay for more those sophisticated services. And most important, 44% would consider swapping their financial institution if m-banking were offered for free.
I can understand certain reluctance on the part of banks is based on their experience with on-line banking. It was tough to integrate, took forever, and was extremely costly. But the ability to get up and active with a mobile payment solution can now be handled inexpensively and in as few as 30 days.
Of course, it’s not like the carriers will have their solution to market any time soon. The hardware infrastructure will take considerable time to implement, and the Japanese implementation referred to in the Bloomberg article took nearly a decade to gain widespread adoption. Nevertheless, it is recognition that mobile payments are reaching a “tipping point” in the U.S. As Will Wade says in his article in American Banker, “While analysts agreed that a payments network driven by phone companies would pose a significant threat to banks and card companies, they also said that such a system would increase consumer interest in the technology, and that once the hardware is widely available, financial companies also could find ways to take advantage of it.”
By that time, however, it may too late for banks that may have lost the opportunity to dominate this new revenue stream.
Like most people, I would prefer to have any mobile payment solution on my cell phone connected to my bank. But if AT&T comes along with a solution where I can pay for dinner, get the charges on my phone bill, and maybe even cover the cost of dinner with rollover minutes—hey, I would be eager to do that. I’ll bet you would be too.
So, I hope the banks can get into the battle before they lose the war.
In the Sybase 365 survey, for example, a third of respondents say they are interested in buying goods and services using their mobile phone, and they say they would be prepared to pay for more those sophisticated services. And most important, 44% would consider swapping their financial institution if m-banking were offered for free.
I can understand certain reluctance on the part of banks is based on their experience with on-line banking. It was tough to integrate, took forever, and was extremely costly. But the ability to get up and active with a mobile payment solution can now be handled inexpensively and in as few as 30 days.
Of course, it’s not like the carriers will have their solution to market any time soon. The hardware infrastructure will take considerable time to implement, and the Japanese implementation referred to in the Bloomberg article took nearly a decade to gain widespread adoption. Nevertheless, it is recognition that mobile payments are reaching a “tipping point” in the U.S. As Will Wade says in his article in American Banker, “While analysts agreed that a payments network driven by phone companies would pose a significant threat to banks and card companies, they also said that such a system would increase consumer interest in the technology, and that once the hardware is widely available, financial companies also could find ways to take advantage of it.”
By that time, however, it may too late for banks that may have lost the opportunity to dominate this new revenue stream.
Like most people, I would prefer to have any mobile payment solution on my cell phone connected to my bank. But if AT&T comes along with a solution where I can pay for dinner, get the charges on my phone bill, and maybe even cover the cost of dinner with rollover minutes—hey, I would be eager to do that. I’ll bet you would be too.
So, I hope the banks can get into the battle before they lose the war.
Friday, July 9, 2010
And Justice For All
My faith in the Justice system just took a major leap forward when my friend had his charges changed to a misdemeanor. The judge, acknowledging that this was an unfortunate but not felonious act, resisted the prosecutor’s attempt to make my friend an example for the community. After eighteen months of remorse, fear and depression, it is behind him.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Freedom On My Mind
Like every American blogger worth his or her salt yesterday, I was thinking about freedom. A close near-family member may lose his on Wednesday. In his early thirties, working hard at an executive position in one of the country’s largest corporations, and a new baby to take care of, yesterday’s celebration of American freedom was filled with irony for him. In what can only be considered a strange twist of the Justice system, he is facing a year in prison for pushing and accidentally killing a transient who was belligerently trying to wash his windows—pants around his ankles and a blood alcohol level that should have left him unable to stand let alone walk. In a split second, after living a life of contribution and stand up citizenship, my friend faces the loss of his freedom for the next twelve months. In a unique swap of circumstances, this happened to him in a small California central valley town where whites are in the minority, and prejudice is palpable. While this may be unrelated to the crime or the punishment, it certainly shows that the Lettuce Bowl we live in today is a far cry from the Melting Pot it is suppose to be—and the ramifications that can have on our ideal of a common American heritage.
For the life of me, I can’t figure out how that is justice. How it sits with freedom and the “American Way”. How it fits into the intent our system was designed around. A man lost his life, that’s undeniable, but he was not blameless in the incident and what does this punishment achieve? Certainly his death will live with my friend forever. That may be punishment enough.
He and his family came over for a traditional barbeque and fireworks show yesterday. His future was definitely present for all of us. It certainly puts the abstraction of freedom front and center in a very clear way.
For the life of me, I can’t figure out how that is justice. How it sits with freedom and the “American Way”. How it fits into the intent our system was designed around. A man lost his life, that’s undeniable, but he was not blameless in the incident and what does this punishment achieve? Certainly his death will live with my friend forever. That may be punishment enough.
He and his family came over for a traditional barbeque and fireworks show yesterday. His future was definitely present for all of us. It certainly puts the abstraction of freedom front and center in a very clear way.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Clarity Communications
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