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Disney's $1B Bet on a Magical Wristband

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Re: Disney's $1B Bet on a Magical Wristband

#51

Post by drzaiusapelord »

emsy wrote: post #22

I remember that not too long ago, somone commented on HN that he basically pitched this idea to Disney but they declined and said the idea wasn't really good. I hope he shows up and tells us his story. edit: found it https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8839888

Reminds me of people who send scripts to sitcoms then complain they've been "ripped off" when a similar storyline emerges. Considering there are something like 6 or 7 unique sitcom plots and only so many possible pairings, its pretty obvious that "invention" here is non-existent. Oh you also wanted Rachel and Ross to get together? You don't say.

We've probably been talking about RFID as people tracker for almost 20 years. Personally, I'm really getting sick of the whole "they stole my idea" bullshit from young entrepreneurs. You aren't as clever as you think.

Re: Disney's $1B Bet on a Magical Wristband

#52

Post by sp332 »

strictnein wrote: post #50

None of the content is online, but in either the winter or fall 2600 there's a pretty decent tear down / analysis of the wristband.

Winter 2014, it's $6 on Amazon Kindle. http://smile.amazon.com/2600-Magazine-Hacker-Quarterly-2014-... The article is called "Recon on Disney's Magic Band."

Re: Disney's $1B Bet on a Magical Wristband

#54

Post by strictnein »

sp332 wrote: post #52
strictnein wrote: post #50

None of the content is online, but in either the winter or fall 2600 there's a pretty decent tear down / analysis of the wristband.

Winter 2014, it's $6 on Amazon Kindle. http://smile.amazon.com/2600-Magazine-Hacker-Quarterly-2014-... The article is called "Recon on Disney's Magic Band."

Yep, thanks, that was it.

Re: Disney's $1B Bet on a Magical Wristband

#55

Post by pcunite »

Quote: "If Disney decides to install those sensors throughout the park, a new world of data opens up. They could have Mickey and Snow White find you. They might use the park’s myriad cameras to capture candid moments of your family—enjoying rides, meeting Snow White—and stitch them together into a personalized film."

The governments of the world would like this, no?

Re: Disney's $1B Bet on a Magical Wristband

#56

Post by andrewparker »

madaxe_again wrote: post #44
mbrock wrote: post #39

Neal Stephenson wrote about Disney in "In the Beginning was the Command Line": "Americans' preference for mediated experiences is obvious enough, and I'm not going to keep pounding it into the ground. I'm not even going to make snotty comments about it--after all, I was at Disney World as a paying customer. But it clearly relates to the colossal success of GUIs and so I have to talk about it some. Disney does mediate…

It's a brilliant read, never mind pretty good! I think Stephenson has his finger pretty firmly on the pulse, when it comes to understanding the role and impact of technology in society.

Stephenson considers much of his position in "In The Beginning..." to be out of date at this point: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Beginning..._Was_the_Com...

Re: Disney's $1B Bet on a Magical Wristband

#57

Post by bhandziuk »

oh_sigh wrote: post #38
timf wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only adults have charging privileges and even then you need a PIN (that the cardholder does not need to share).

It would be cool if you could get a text message for the charge amount(if it was over some set limit), location, and possibly itemized bill(since disney does control every system after all), and respond yes or no to allow or deny the transaction.

There are a few non-Disney services in Disney. Not many though. Stuff like Starbucks are not directly tied to Disney.

Re: Disney's $1B Bet on a Magical Wristband

#58

Post by joeriel »

mcphilip wrote: post #47
atwebb wrote: post #4

It reads kind of like a fluff/marketing piece but I'll be damned if it wasn't pretty seamless. I have no idea what it was like prior to the bands but the whole experience was clearly made a lot easier by them and the accompanying app (which is pretty solid). I needed my phone and my band, that was really it (well,...snacks, water bottles, strollers etc..) It was 85% well done, when you're actually scanning it can be…

Just a side note to add about scanning the wristband for a ride's fastpass line or entry into a park: it's a two step process where you put a finger on a finger print scanner and then move on to scanning the wristband. If both are successful, you're let in. Oddly enough, the fidelity of the fingerprint scans wasn't high enough to read 2 of our party's members, so it was an slightly annoying process having to wait for…

IIRC, the finger print scan was only for entry into the park, not for Fastpass lines.

I was just there at the end of December, but it is all kind of hazy now.

Re: Disney's $1B Bet on a Magical Wristband

#59

Post by Brakenshire »

pcunite wrote: post #55

Quote: "If Disney decides to install those sensors throughout the park, a new world of data opens up. They could have Mickey and Snow White find you. They might use the park’s myriad cameras to capture candid moments of your family—enjoying rides, meeting Snow White—and stitch them together into a personalized film." The governments of the world would like this, no?

One of the joys of the internet economy is that citizens fund the development of the surveillance state (or at least the technology necessary for it) through their own private-sector consumer purchases.

Re: Disney's $1B Bet on a Magical Wristband

#60

Post by nemo »

VikingCoder wrote: post #31

1) You still can't see how many frickin days you have left in the parks when you're at home. Are you kidding me? 2) Joining groups, and saying who can reserve for whom is still a pain. It probably works GREAT for 98% of people, but we got screwed on three different trips. 3) The way they track photos is great for small parties, but it's a pain for groups that get together, split up, get together, split up, form with…

The bands are nice for people who go casually, maybe once a year at most. People who are really into the parks or go more often feel the weak spots more.

The old FastPass system was far better for those who knew how to work it, we used to be able to do FastPass for most of the day and never be in a line for more than 20 minutes, though the new system makes the system more apparent to everyone.

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