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Paypal Adds Innovative ‘Bump’ To Mobile Payment Suite

mobileinc.co.uk

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Re: Paypal Adds Innovative ‘Bump’ To Mobile Payment Suite

#2

Post by devinj »

I don't get it. I mean, sure, the technology is cool. They have some kind of spatial tree with temporal information added to individual nodes so they can detect nearby bumps. I find that somewhat interesting (but there are more interesting problems abound).

But as an actual application, what? Maybe it's just because I don't have a phone. I don't see how it's much easier than just scrolling through a contacts list-- which, by the way, you can do anywhere, not just when you're next to the person-- or pulling out your wallet and giving the person the money as cash (which is usually how I've done it / seen it done-- and where there has been paypal involved, it's always been when we weren't next to each other). I could maybe see it being used as some kind of replacement for debit/credit cards, which are annoying. Simply nodding your phone towards a kiosk/reader would seem easier, even including the time it takes to start up the app and so on (then again, there is a reason I have to enter my PIN-- however, I could do this in line with the phone...). But, I can't imagine that ever happening (magstripe readers won a long time ago). What's so great about this?

Re: Paypal Adds Innovative ‘Bump’ To Mobile Payment Suite

#3

Post by ivankirigin »

devinj wrote: post #2

I don't get it. I mean, sure, the technology is cool. They have some kind of spatial tree with temporal information added to individual nodes so they can detect nearby bumps. I find that somewhat interesting (but there are more interesting problems abound). But as an actual application, what? Maybe it's just because I don't have a phone. I don't see how it's much easier than just scrolling through a contacts list-- w…

Simplicity in a product can make or break functionality. I think the folks at http://bu.mp are awesome ;-D

Re: Paypal Adds Innovative ‘Bump’ To Mobile Payment Suite

#7

Post by jat850 »

devinj wrote: post #2

I don't get it. I mean, sure, the technology is cool. They have some kind of spatial tree with temporal information added to individual nodes so they can detect nearby bumps. I find that somewhat interesting (but there are more interesting problems abound). But as an actual application, what? Maybe it's just because I don't have a phone. I don't see how it's much easier than just scrolling through a contacts list-- w…

I have to agree with you. It seems like a tremendous waste of resources, listening to and algorithmically calculating when, where, and between whom these transactions occur.

Seems like it's simply wrapping a transaction in an entirely extraneous layer with no visible benefit.

Re: Paypal Adds Innovative ‘Bump’ To Mobile Payment Suite

#8

Post by orangecat »

devinj wrote: post #2

I don't get it. I mean, sure, the technology is cool. They have some kind of spatial tree with temporal information added to individual nodes so they can detect nearby bumps. I find that somewhat interesting (but there are more interesting problems abound). But as an actual application, what? Maybe it's just because I don't have a phone. I don't see how it's much easier than just scrolling through a contacts list-- w…

This looks similar to most augmented reality apps; not terribly practical today, but with future interfaces it could be great. In 2022 when we have displays in glasses and full-body-tracking sensors, you'll be able to activate Paypal with an eye gesture, then make a tossing hand motion to send them money which they "catch".

Yes, I did just read Rainbows End...

Re: Paypal Adds Innovative ‘Bump’ To Mobile Payment Suite

#9

Post by ganjianwei »

"When two people with the app bump phones, the sensor readings are sent to the Paypal servers where the algorithm listens to bumps happening all over the world and matches the two phones that felt the same movement."

Correct me if I'm wrong but if they're using Bump's API, aren't the Bump servers the ones doing the algorithmic matching and not the Paypal servers?

Re: Paypal Adds Innovative ‘Bump’ To Mobile Payment Suite

#10

Post by wallflower »

My initial impression of Bump is that it was a silly idea. Like what if you damage your phone. However, the secret and success of Bump is that it makes a boring transaction a little more fun. Bring back a little human interaction. Make the people using it look cool or uncool (depending on the audience) - but regardless make people pay a little more attention to the people bumping. Everytime, I see a public Bump, I get amused.
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