Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How Apple Pay works and why it matters for developers

clover-developers.blogspot.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 116 posts

Re: How Apple Pay works and why it matters for developers

#81

Post by cdnsteve »

clarky07 wrote: post #49
cdnsteve wrote: post #32

Maybe it's just me but I'm not drinking the kool aid about Apple Pay in today's announcement. Aside, I really hated the fact that to watch the event you had to use a Safari browser, same with watching Swift tutorial videos on their website, using latest Chrome on a Mac... Maybe I'm old school but I'm actually finding that payment options are getting worse, not better. This is another example of further fragmentation.…

really, cash? cash sucks in so many ways. it can get lost, it can get stolen, it takes up more room, it takes longer to pay with, you have to get coins back as change. should i go on? i thought the apple pay stuff was the best part about today's event. if they can get a high percentage of merchants to accept it it will noticeably improve my life. small things like saving time checking out will make me happy therefore…

Cash still works when a city does not have power and ATM machines don't work. I've had a few instances of this in my life and I was caught without having much cash. Emergencies, cash still rules supreme.

The point about it getting lost is actually worse for a phone. You can also lose your smartphone. Losing your phone is a greater risk than losing the minimal amount of cash you carry on you. Think about it, if you don't have a password on your phone or you do and someone gets in, how much data are you exposing? Facebook, mass messaging all contacts, Banking, App stores, Email, the list goes on and on. Not to mention you're phones likely in a contract and you hold a few hundred dollar balance remaining on the item itself.

The problem with any technology is that even though we put our best foot forward, there will always be bugs and glitches. Cash, always, just works.

Re: How Apple Pay works and why it matters for developers

#82

Post by poolpool »

21echoes wrote: post #26

> Apple Pay marks the first time a popular operating system is making payments a platform service for real-world, non-digital-good transactions, in a broad, inclusive manner that is compatible with the mainstream payments processing industry I'm sorry... what? How is this different from Google making Google Wallet back in 2011? They both use the same tech (PayPass, an industry standard), and both are made by an OS co…

Apple is a hardware company. Google just releases as much software as they can and sees what catches on since any additional user spending additional time being tracked is a win for them. Apple writes software to make their hardware more appealing.

Bad android sales doesn't affect Google. Bad iPhone sales would tank Apple.

Re: How Apple Pay works and why it matters for developers

#83

Post by rtpg »

simonh wrote: post #66
rtpg wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having first-class OS support for the payment method (and the fact that a huge amount of people have been forced to register a credit card through iTunes at one point or another) means that the consumer barrier to entry is super low.

> forced to register a credit card through iTunes I'll never forget the day they held a gun to my head and made me buy my first iPod. Just so I get the terminology right though, when you register a card within itunes Apple is forcing you to do so, but when you register it with Google Play, Google is reluctantly allowing you to do it. Did I get that right?

In some countries there have been periods where the only way to make an iTunes account (and thus get access to app store) was through registering a credit card or buying an itunes gift card.

Google Play does not ask for a credit card unless you actually make a purchase.

Re: How Apple Pay works and why it matters for developers

#84

Post by StavrosK »

gress wrote: post #29
21echoes wrote: post #26

> Apple Pay marks the first time a popular operating system is making payments a platform service for real-world, non-digital-good transactions, in a broad, inclusive manner that is compatible with the mainstream payments processing industry I'm sorry... what? How is this different from Google making Google Wallet back in 2011? They both use the same tech (PayPass, an industry standard), and both are made by an OS co…

Google wallet was unpopular and was impeded by the cell carriers. It was a business failure, not a technical one.

"Apple Pay marks the first time a popular operating system is making payments a platform service"

Android is a popular operating system. Android made payments a platform service. Therefore, that sentence is blatantly false.

Re: How Apple Pay works and why it matters for developers

#85

Post by danpalmer »

cdnsteve wrote: post #32

Maybe it's just me but I'm not drinking the kool aid about Apple Pay in today's announcement. Aside, I really hated the fact that to watch the event you had to use a Safari browser, same with watching Swift tutorial videos on their website, using latest Chrome on a Mac... Maybe I'm old school but I'm actually finding that payment options are getting worse, not better. This is another example of further fragmentation.…

Just a note on the fact you had to use Safari to watch the video, there's a technical reason behind that, it's not arbitrary lock-in on Apple's part.

Apple use HTTP Live Streaming for their live streams. This is an open technology they are trying to get adopted more widely (RFC: http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-pantos-http-live-streaming-...). Currently, HLS is not implemented by Chrome or other browsers, in part because Google are pushing a competing standard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_Adaptive_Streaming_over...).

I'm not sure it's clear cut if one is better than the other. I've used HLS and implemented a toy HLS server, and can say anecdotally that it was easy to use and quite a nice standard, although not brilliantly implemented by clients so far. Because of this, I understand why Apple continue to push HLS, and why Google continue to push DASH, and why neither will implement the other's technology in their browsers.

Re: How Apple Pay works and why it matters for developers

#86

Post by faet »

cdnsteve wrote: post #80
chj wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, sometimes digital payment comes with a nice discount. That's where CASH can't compete.

Many businesses offer cash discounts, much more so than digital.

Where I am there has been one business that offered a 'cash discount' higher than what I got back from my credit card. It went out of business.

All the gas stations give 10c/gal, my credit card gives 5%. at 3$+/gal I'm at 15c/gal.

Re: How Apple Pay works and why it matters for developers

#87

Post by chiph »

bokonist wrote: post #61
AYBABTME wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This, I'm living exactly the same situation right now. Last time I came to the US, I realized my cards' magnetic bands weren't working. Would have never noticed otherwise, chips don't wear off. Had to prepare for new cards before my next trip. Chips came so long ago in Canada that I can't recall when. My surprise every time I remember they're still not here. Then cash only places and having to receive coins; the wors…

And then what do you do with the coins, hope that one day you'll get the chance to use them? You dump the coins in a change jar on top of your dresser. Then once a year or so, when you have accumulated $100 in coins, you bring the jar to a coinstar machine at your local supermarket and get the coins converted to an Amazon gift certificate.

I have an algorithm for minimizing my coin count. When I buy a soda or snack from a machine, I put the smallest denomination coins in first (nickles) and then work my way up (dimes, then quarters) until I have put enough money in to make my purchase. The machine gives me change, and as long as the item costs at least 25 cents (a practical certainty!), I'm sure to have fewer coins in my pocket afterwards.

Re: How Apple Pay works and why it matters for developers

#88

Post by pyre »

AYBABTME wrote: post #55
DrewAllyn wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a Canadian who is temporarily in the US, and it seems so backwards to me. A signature? You mean writing on a piece of paper that probably never gets looks at allows someone to take money out of my bank account? Chip+Pin at least has a semblance of technical security. And cash? Don't get me started. Cash can be physically lost. Cash can be stolen. When you pay with cash, you get given coins as well as the thing yo…

This, I'm living exactly the same situation right now. Last time I came to the US, I realized my cards' magnetic bands weren't working. Would have never noticed otherwise, chips don't wear off. Had to prepare for new cards before my next trip. Chips came so long ago in Canada that I can't recall when. My surprise every time I remember they're still not here. Then cash only places and having to receive coins; the wors…

> Chips came so long ago in Canada that I can't recall when.

I left Canada in 2008, and I don't remember chip & pin being prevalent as it is now, so it's not quite as "long ago" as you are implying.

But... you might have issues carrying just a credit card. Many places only accept debit due to there being smaller merchant fees and there are still many cash-only places (in Toronto at least).

And seriously? When I end up with cash / change in my pockets I end up using it. Your comments about "OMG! What do I do with physical money?! It's sooooo useless" are a bit hyperbolic.

Re: How Apple Pay works and why it matters for developers

#89

Post by pyre »

clarky07 wrote: post #49
cdnsteve wrote: post #32

Maybe it's just me but I'm not drinking the kool aid about Apple Pay in today's announcement. Aside, I really hated the fact that to watch the event you had to use a Safari browser, same with watching Swift tutorial videos on their website, using latest Chrome on a Mac... Maybe I'm old school but I'm actually finding that payment options are getting worse, not better. This is another example of further fragmentation.…

really, cash? cash sucks in so many ways. it can get lost, it can get stolen, it takes up more room, it takes longer to pay with, you have to get coins back as change. should i go on? i thought the apple pay stuff was the best part about today's event. if they can get a high percentage of merchants to accept it it will noticeably improve my life. small things like saving time checking out will make me happy therefore…

> it takes longer to pay with

Really? I've found that processing machines can tend to take a while. Some of them are also super slow for no reason (and if you don't go at their pace they force you to restart the transaction).

Re: How Apple Pay works and why it matters for developers

#90

Post by eddieroger »

DrewAllyn wrote: post #44
cdnsteve wrote: post #32

Maybe it's just me but I'm not drinking the kool aid about Apple Pay in today's announcement. Aside, I really hated the fact that to watch the event you had to use a Safari browser, same with watching Swift tutorial videos on their website, using latest Chrome on a Mac... Maybe I'm old school but I'm actually finding that payment options are getting worse, not better. This is another example of further fragmentation.…

I'm a Canadian who is temporarily in the US, and it seems so backwards to me. A signature? You mean writing on a piece of paper that probably never gets looks at allows someone to take money out of my bank account? Chip+Pin at least has a semblance of technical security. And cash? Don't get me started. Cash can be physically lost. Cash can be stolen. When you pay with cash, you get given coins as well as the thing yo…

I used my swipe-only American Visa when I was in London, and was looked at like a neanderthal. Cards are easily stolen, signatures are easily forged, but my thumbprint is pretty much only mine (yes, it can be tricked, but you still have to get it somehow). I welcome two-form, and loathe Visa and MasterCard for holding it up as long they have in the States.
Post reply on HN