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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

#111

Post by digikata »

will_brown wrote: post #105

I wrote on HN about patenting a "reusable RFID wristband" and attempting to work something out with Disney in ~2007.[1] The response on HN was fairly predictable...I am a patent troll. Though I think this sheds light on the reality that it takes a lot of money to bring certain products to market and this is why, in certain instances, patents can be useful to the little guys who in some instances can not practically b…

The band is just the ID device, the real value is how & when that ID process happens and gets wrapped organically into many different processes in the park - and that's not something that a small inventor would likely have the context to correctly wrap around just the hardware. Nor does it seem like something the original patent would be general enough to exclude.

The article mentions a $1B investment. I would think the band and reader hardware are the smallest part of that investment with the bulk of it in the how to apply the information in developing new park-specific processes and retraining employees.

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

#112

Post by will_brown »

digikata wrote: post #111
will_brown wrote: post #105

I wrote on HN about patenting a "reusable RFID wristband" and attempting to work something out with Disney in ~2007.[1] The response on HN was fairly predictable...I am a patent troll. Though I think this sheds light on the reality that it takes a lot of money to bring certain products to market and this is why, in certain instances, patents can be useful to the little guys who in some instances can not practically b…

The band is just the ID device, the real value is how & when that ID process happens and gets wrapped organically into many different processes in the park - and that's not something that a small inventor would likely have the context to correctly wrap around just the hardware. Nor does it seem like something the original patent would be general enough to exclude. The article mentions a $1B investment. I would think…

>the real value is how & when that ID process happens and gets wrapped organically into many different processes in the park

I think I agree with your point, but to rephrase I say the real value (for theme parks and resorts) would be easing the ability for patrons to make payments, purchasing data, the ability to track/locate patrons (lost kids, people injured in ski resorts, ect...), and the general logistical improvements of operations (being able to see what seats/rides are open, the exact number of people in line, redirecting people to other areas of the park, ect...). This is all very basic data available in most existing RFID software packages.

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

#113

Post by astrange »

woodchuck64 wrote: post #63
smoyer wrote: post #33

I always wanted my kids to have a wristband that's tied to my credit card - good thing there's nothing they'd want at Disney World! Sarcasm aside, we always get a big wad of cash when we go on vacation (and especially to Disney World). It's almost impossible to track your spending if you follow the normal pattern of pulling out your credit card ... this wrist band (in my mind) is to make sure you don't realize what y…

Hmm... there's a real need for a credit or debit card app that tracks real time charges. I know authorization holds go through immediately (while actual transfers may take a day) and aren't always the same as spending (i.e. car rentals typically issue an authorization hold at time of rental for more than cost), but, in principle, that should be enough to keep track of likely cash flow in realtime. I'd like to see a b…

Many banks have apps that will send notifications on every CC charge. I have at least three (CapitalOne, Wells Fargo, AMEX).

It's more useful to see your spending habits than safety. After all, a stolen credit card isn't really worth worrying about when you're not actually out any money.

With CapitalOne I have the opposite problem, in that they keep declining charges and sometimes closing my card for purchases I did actually make myself.

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

#115

Post by Animats »

I wonder how aggressively they mine the tracking information in real time. It would not be hard to recognize both "child separated from parents" and "parent movement matches search-like behavior", for example.

How did they spend a billion dollars on this system, though?

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

#117

Post by bhandziuk »

unreal37 wrote: post #98
bhandziuk wrote: post #64

One difficulty with the bands is that, unlike a regular hotel with a magnetic (or even RFID) wallet sized card, this needs to be placed on your wrist every morning. I've needed several replacement Magic Bands because I am used to walking out of my house/hotel room and just checking for my wallet, cell, keys and knowing I'm good. Usually a hotel card would be in my wallet and it is not an additional check. They are fr…

I don't understand. You leave the magic band in your hotel room and need to have it replaced? Why not go back into the hotel room and retrieve the original?

The hotel room being far away is one issue. Also, only so many people are authorized to let you back into your room. If that person is not available it can be a long wait and even if you are at the front desk of the hotel the room might be a 10 minute walk from there so the front desk person can't leave to walk you over there. A new band is often faster.

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

#118

Post by neuronic »

theandrewbailey wrote: post #49
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…

link: http://www.cryptonomicon.com/beginning.html The metaphorical comparison between the operating systems is one I'll never forget.

Thank you for the link.

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

#119

Post by Shivetya »

so they could be modified to monitor the health of their customers and wouldn't that be amazing. If someone is experiencing a life threatening situation employees could move in and discretely do a visual check and if confirmed react so much faster.

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

#120

Post by JustGotHere »

fourstar wrote: post #85
bnycum wrote: post #76

I recently got back from my second trip to Disney World in which I had a Magic Band, the first time it was still test phase and had lots of kinks. This time around it worked flawlessly. To get into the park it requires you to scan your fingerprint as well, to buy anything with a credit card linked to your account or use your dining plan requires your pin number. Other than that it's pretty much tap and go. The crazy…

You are scared because you are being tracked in a theme park that Disney controls... Odd type of paranoia. They've been tracking people for years (I grew up going to Disneyland and my sister worked there), with cameras, so this is nothing new -- it's just updated technology. Personally, I think it's cool and interesting.

Magical 1984!
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