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Square Register

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Re: Square Register

#101

Post by madmath »

maxmcd wrote: post #18
craigmccaskill wrote: post #17

The Application looks amazing. Well done. What I do wonder though, is why they're shipping this with such a terrible stand/card reader attachment? I can't see those lasting 6 months in a busy shop environment. I'd like to see a swivel stand that's locked to the counter which you can slide the ipad into, then bolt secure and lock with a key. While you're at it, build a robust card reader into the side of the case. Bas…

Most likely because a lot of their business relies on easily being able to provide a ton of people with free card readers. I'm sure they've explored a more robust option, but it's probably nowhere near as cheap as the current model. Maybe a paid upgrade card reader is the next step, but if their goal is broad, cheap and easy distribution they'll probably be shipping with this model for a long time.

Agreed with the paid upgrade. Businesses are ready to pay for such things, especially when they bought a $500 iPad just for the purpose... what's $15 on a card reader? As was suggested, a cheap and free reader as well as a paid upgrade would work well I think.

Overall great product, and demo video!

Re: Square Register

#102

Post by unicron »

Game_Ender wrote: post #100
unicron wrote: post #91

This is a gimmick or a hack. Not much better than what you will see on hackaday.com I did a LOT of POS work a few years ago for small businesses. An iPad/iPhone would be dead and broken in less than a month for most retailers. You need pretty hard wearing industrial grade kit if you don't want to throw it away 3 times a year. That flimsy card reader is almost comedic - you'll break it and your device. If it's your re…

Apple uses iPod touches with a more beefy card reader setup in their retail stores. You could do the same with a slightly modified iPad case, and a reinforced reader.

It would still be no good. If you drop one, it's dead. If you drop a Barclays PDQ, you pick it up and continue the transaction.

Re: Square Register

#103

Post by notatoad »

_wo6a wrote: post #51
kefs wrote: post #19

I don't like how, as the customer, I have no way of seeing what exactly is being charged to my card. For all I know, anything could be running on that ipad (foreground or background) and i could be charged any amount without knowing. Sure, I can ask for a receipt, but even the legacy till they replace in the video has a customer facing display, not a shiny piece of aluminum with some fruit. It's interesting that vide…

I used to work at a retail outfit that used the really old-fashioned credit card system involving carbon paper slips and handwritten amounts, which would be entered into a credit card processing system at another location at a later time. We could have essentially charged whatever amount we wanted, and this was fairly apparent to anyone who paid via credit card. And yet, out of every thousand people who go to pay wit…

any business approved by a payment processor is essentially zero-risk. if you ever get an unauthorized charge on your credit card, it is trivially easy to have the charges reversed.

Re: Square Register

#104

Post by saryant »

etfb wrote: post #73

Must be an American thing, I guess. Is EFTPOS (ie debit card) less common in the US than in Australia? Seems odd to provide a credit card service by itself. People don't pay for coffee and things on credit, do they?

Americans will put nearly anything, however small, on a card, all the way down to a $2 cup of coffee.

Re: Square Register

#105

Post by noonespecial »

tricolon wrote: post #6

One piece is missing: a much more robust card reader that doesn't swivel or threaten to snap in two after a day of swiping.

Its probably about time for them to lose the "headphone jack" idea for commercial systems. Its a cute hack to give Apple the finger for rent seeking the damn serial port when you're a fresh young startup, but they're big boys now. Time for serial or bluetooth.

Re: Square Register

#106

Post by underwater »

bergie wrote: post #94
underwater wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw a poor barista trying dozens of times to make the reader accept a card the other day (Square + iPad, not sure if they were using this exact set up). It got quite violent. The scanner does really seem to be far too flimsy to be the primary payment mechanism in a busy business.

This will hopefully become less of an issue once NFC payments take off

True. I used Square's NFC-like Card Case app at the same coffee shop and the experience was much better. It was a little disconcerting to complete a transaction without an physically action like a swipe or button press though.

Re: Square Register

#107

Post by savrajsingh »

This looks awesome! It's important they get this kind of product right on the first release -- because small business owners can't tolerate 'beta' for something so critical as their cash register.

Case in point: One of my favorite restaurants in Seattle was using iPads for registers (not using Square's product). I came back a few months later and they had switched to a 'normal' POS system. "What happened to the iPads?" I asked. "There were too many issues and they crashed way too often." It was a case of a restaurant that wanted to be on the cutting edge -- but in the end it didn't work out, so they went with a standard solution that worked well.

I don't doubt that square can execute -- they have already shipped some great products. I just want to point out that it's not as simple as some people might imagine.

Re: Square Register

#108

Post by there »

etfb wrote: post #73

Must be an American thing, I guess. Is EFTPOS (ie debit card) less common in the US than in Australia? Seems odd to provide a credit card service by itself. People don't pay for coffee and things on credit, do they?

For every checking account I've had in the US, I've been given a debit card with a MasterCard/Visa logo on it, which can be used as credit or debit. Both methods deduct money from the same checking account, so using it as a credit card isn't really using credit, although it does come with credit card fraud protection when using it online.

I always pick credit at the terminal because it's faster and more secure than entering my PIN at some random POS, although the merchant then has to pay a credit card fee on that transaction.

But to answer your question: yes, lots of people pay for coffee with actual credit cards. Some like the budgeting, some like the rewards/cashback that come with many credit cards, and some people are just bad with their money.

Re: Square Register

#109

Post by thesash »

tricolon wrote: post #6

One piece is missing: a much more robust card reader that doesn't swivel or threaten to snap in two after a day of swiping.

Intuit's competitor actually has a really elegant design-- there is an air-filled rubber chamber at the bottom that grips on to the top of the device to prevent movement. http://gopayment.com/how_it_works/

That being said, Intuit's UI is hideous, Square's is gorgeous.

Re: Square Register

#110

Post by Bjartr »

noonespecial wrote: post #105
tricolon wrote: post #6

One piece is missing: a much more robust card reader that doesn't swivel or threaten to snap in two after a day of swiping.

Its probably about time for them to lose the "headphone jack" idea for commercial systems. Its a cute hack to give Apple the finger for rent seeking the damn serial port when you're a fresh young startup, but they're big boys now. Time for serial or bluetooth.

Bluetooth audio dongle and a robust dock maybe?
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