You Know you Need to Reform Patent Law when…
Google just bought Motorola mobility for 12+ BILLION dollars. It would appear that they purchased the company not because there is significant synchronization and economies of scale, not because it was the right thing to do, but instead because of significant patent warchests that would allow Google to defend itself in court:
Our acquisition of Motorola will increase competition by strengthening Google’s patent portfolio, which will enable us to better protect Android from anti-competitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and other companies - Larry Page
This is (excuse the pun) patently ridiculous. It’s not good for the economy, not good for innovation, and certainly doesn’t set a good precedent for up and coming firms that are looking to innovate. It’s tough to pay an army of lawyers when you’re just trying to keep the lights on and get VC backing.
As always, it will be interesting to see how this plays out in court, and what its impact on the mobile marketplace will be in the medium term.
Congress: please take a shot at reform - well, OK maybe after you reform yourselves.
Forget the Tech, the Fee (or lack thereof) is the Key to Mobile Payments
A number of companies are working hard to get payment systems in our mobile phones and cards. Contactless technology is great, but why such a race all of a sudden when the technology has been there for years? I’m perfectly capable of swiping my credit card and as a consumer it doesn’t save me THAT much time to get it out of my wallet. So why is everybody pouncing on this? One word: Fees.
For the last 50 plus years, credit card companies and banks like Visa and JPMorgan Chase have charged businesses fees for using their system of payment. These fees are a hugely profitable line of business and were completely understandable in the past when capital requirements to make the network function were very high - swipe cards, risk, payment systems, international networks, football-field sized super computers, etc.
Thanks to the exponential progress of technology, however, the cost to get a secure transaction from vendor to bank is approaching zero, and Point of Sale systems are diversifying from leased apparatus to mobile phone peripherals that allow you to swipe and pay without a huge monthly dig into your profit.
So - what’s so special about Google’s foray into the mobile payments business and why are banks developing competing systems? Google has said that (at least initially) they will not be charging transaction fees for their mobile payment systems. Their revenue will be driven by increased search and web traffic to their pages. This is a huge deal as there has never been a major institution willing to gain only the revenue of a secondary economic effect to power financial transactions. Banks make money on fees, but Google will make money when you surf more because of an enabling technology. Much like the web has “democratized” industries like music and publishing, this no-fee payment system could allow retailers and businesses to branch out on their own as well and significantly improve the bottom line.
The response from banks is to develop their own mobile payment systems or cooperate and make money through the no-fee model. JP Morgan, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo have banded together to start an SMS and e-mail based payment system to exchange money between their customers. If we use their bank system they are still able to take a small cut of each transaction as a fee. (Looking further, it’s actually a pretty big cut at an estimated $12-50 dollars).
Whichever standard prevails (if there is to be one major winner), or whatever turbulence this causes in the market as it’s figured out, I’m excited for what this burst of technology and ideas means for the general consumer and businesses in terms of transaction fee competition and expansion of options to accept payments. I feel that while it’s not where it needs to be for wide adoption at the moment it will hit its stride very quickly as the next series of major devices is released later in the year.
Looking forward to it!
Inspired via: WaPo Business article on Google’s new system.
Where Did My Tax Dollars Go?
Check out this awesome winner of the Google Data Visualization Challenge (http://www.datavizchallenge.org/)
via The Economist
EDIT: Honorable mention - the glass half full award went to this great tool that determines what tax dollars actually went to things you like supporting: http://www.meghantosh.com/datavizchallenge/
Living the Google Lifestyle (Mark Cuban)
As I installed my Logitech Google TV box, I checked my e-mail — I mean Gmail — on my G2 Slide. Someone needed some info, so I pulled up the information from a file stored on Google Docs using my browser of choice, Chrome.
Then it occurred to me. I’m surrounded by Google and for the most part, I like it.
(via Cary)
20 Things I Learned About Browsers and the Web
Ironically, this browser book does not work at my place of work. (No HTML 5!)
A nice overview of the web, though, for folks that want to find out exactly how all this stuff works.
Google's CloudCourse: Open Source Learning Management
I must’ve missed this in the press releases last week: Google rolled out a scheduling application meant to manage courses, events, and registrations. It was initially made for enterprise event scheduling, but seems to work well for university registration as well. Cool stuff.
Create your Own Google SearchStory on YouTube
Enter a number of searches and create your own “Parisian Love” type search story, using Google’s SearchStories creator. Nifty interface pulls up to date search results from all their services and ties them together in a nice little bow.
Privacy Issues? Google Engineers Leave Facebook in Droves
I’m not sure I dig Facebook’s new “Instant Personalization” model. The fact that you can’t opt out of everything at once is disconcerting, especially if it means I’m leaking my network’s information to third party sites without knowing it. Worth suspending my account? Weigh in.
Make QR Codes in a Jiffy with Goo.gl URL Shortener
Google adds another small but awesome tool to the arsenal by allowing you to append .qr to their URL shortener addresses to transfer information to your mobile phone. Pretty nifty. (via Usher, Lifehacker)
About Me
A strategy consultant with a passion for IT, geopolitics, economics, and the open ocean. Awed by simple, innovative solutions to difficult problems. This represents my favorite slices of the web and serves as networked storage for my brain which is now entirely pointer-based. Opinions expressed here are my own and do not represent those of any organization with which I may or may not be allegedly associated.
I Follow
Copyright © Theme created by 
