What good is the I-phone

[Jarhead]

This morning I received an email from Panera Bread that announced their acceptance of payments via the I-phone. My thought was, "Yeah, so what? I don't have an I-phone." How much does one of those phones cost anyhow? And what about the monthly operating costs of that phone? Golly, my Visa card costs me nothing, and I've been able to swipe it to make a payment for years. Do I get a receipt from the I-phone? I don't know. That would make it easy to check out my Visa bill when it comes. Does the I-phone replace the credit card, paying directly to the vendor? Either way, what have I gained? OK, there's a little bit of cyber security protection, but is it worth all that money that fattens Apple's wallet?

[DUKIECB]

This morning I received an email from Panera Bread that announced their acceptance of payments via the I-phone. My thought was, "Yeah, so what? I don't have an I-phone." How much does one of those phones cost anyhow? And what about the monthly operating costs of that phone? Golly, my Visa card costs me nothing, and I've been able to swipe it to make a payment for years. Do I get a receipt from the I-phone? I don't know. That would make it easy to check out my Visa bill when it comes. Does the I-phone replace the credit card, paying directly to the vendor? Either way, what have I gained? OK, there's a little bit of cyber security protection, but is it worth all that money that fattens Apple's wallet?

No but if you already have one it's a nice perk

[Mike Corey]

It seems your questions/complaints are more targeted at Apple Pay, which is described thusly on the Apple website:

Now paying in stores happens in one natural motion — there’s no need to open an app or even wake your display thanks to the innovative Near Field Communication antenna in iPhone 6. To pay, just hold your iPhone near the contactless reader with your finger on Touch ID. You don’t even have to look at the screen to know your payment information was successfully sent. A subtle vibration and beep let you know.

...

Every time you hand over your credit or debit card to pay, your card number and identity are visible. With Apple Pay, instead of using your actual credit and debit card numbers when you add your card to Passbook, a unique Device Account Number is assigned, encrypted, and securely stored in the Secure Element, a dedicated chip in iPhone. These numbers are never stored on Apple servers. And when you make a purchase, the Device Account Number, along with a transaction-specific dynamic security code, is used to process your payment. So your actual credit or debit card numbers are never shared by Apple with merchants or transmitted with payment.

[CDu]

This morning I received an email from Panera Bread that announced their acceptance of payments via the I-phone. My thought was, "Yeah, so what? I don't have an I-phone." How much does one of those phones cost anyhow? And what about the monthly operating costs of that phone? Golly, my Visa card costs me nothing, and I've been able to swipe it to make a payment for years. Do I get a receipt from the I-phone? I don't know. That would make it easy to check out my Visa bill when it comes. Does the I-phone replace the credit card, paying directly to the vendor? Either way, what have I gained? OK, there's a little bit of cyber security protection, but is it worth all that money that fattens Apple's wallet?

No but if you already have one it's a nice perk

Yeah, I certainly wouldn't go out and buy the iPhone just to get Apple Pay. If you didn't find value in the iPhone before, Apple Pay shouldn't change your mind. But as DukieCB said, if you have an iPhone already, it's a nice new toy to play with.

[FerryFor50]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Credit card swipers aren't going anywhere any time soon.

[snowdenscold]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Credit card swipers aren't going anywhere any time soon.

Yeah, they'll definitely be around for a long while. What I'm excited about is getting a critical mass* of vendors to adopt these new technologies to where skimming and database hacks (e.g., Home Depot) are no longer issues we have to worry about.



* speaking of which, anyone have any guesses on how long it will take before vendors feel the pressure to take NFC-based payments or else risk losing customers? I could definitely see that happening within 5 years.

[alteran]

Yeah, they'll definitely be around for a long while. What I'm excited about is getting a critical mass* of vendors to adopt these new technologies to where skimming and database hacks (e.g., Home Depot) are no longer issues we have to worry about.

I hate to break it to you Snowden, but when we drop the credit-and-debit cards, they will be a whole new series of hacks to deal with.

And Apple is the company that felt so strongly about security that 50 celebrities or so got their nudie pictures posted for the world to see-- this after knowing for 6 months that there was a readily exploitable security hole in iCloud.

Identity theft isn't going anywhere-- the devices might be getting prettier, though.

[weezie]

And Apple is the company that felt so strongly about security that 50 celebrities or so got their nudie pictures posted for the world to see-- this after knowing for 6 months that there was a readily exploitable security hole in iCloud.

Hahaha excellent point.
I'm all for anything that gives us even more reasons to stare and frown at small screens. Just glue our faces to the phones. Glue them!

[OldPhiKap]

I prefer paying for sandwiches with Bitcoins.

[Reisen]

I'm a guy. Generally, in my pockets, you'll find my keys (car & house), my iPhone, some cash, some receipts, and my wallet. Inside my wallet you'll find more cash, my ID, and some credit cards.

In a couple of years, every one of those items will be gone except for my iPhone.

[weezie]

I'm a guy. Generally, in my pockets, you'll find my keys (car & house), my iPhone, some cash, some receipts, and my wallet. Inside my wallet you'll find more cash, my ID, and some credit cards.

In a couple of years, every one of those items will be gone except for my iPhone.

Wow, you have cash in your pockets and your wallet?!

Hey don't tell my husband, I don't want him getting any crazy ideas.

[Reisen]

Wow, you have cash in your pockets and your wallet?!

Hey don't tell my husband, I don't want him getting any crazy ideas.

Haha, yep. $20's in my wallet, anything smaller loose in my back pocket.

[nmduke2001]

I think that the added security of a unique number for every transaction is great. I was part of the Target breach and it was a pain in the arse. I'm really excited to start using Apple pay and like Reisen mentioned above, I look forward to the day that I only need my phone and drivers license when I leave the house.

[YmoBeThere]

I think that the added security of a unique number for every transaction is great. I was part of the Target breach and it was a pain in the arse. I'm really excited to start using Apple pay and like Reisen mentioned above, I look forward to the day that I only need my phone and drivers license when I leave the house.

How did you know you were part of the Target breach? What specifically happened to cause you to know?

I used my cards at Target but didn't have any suspicious transactions on my cards until several months after the headlines hit.

[Jarhead]

How did you know you were part of the Target breach? What specifically happened to cause you to know?

I used my cards at Target but didn't have any suspicious transactions on my cards until several months after the headlines hit.

When I tried to find out online nothing showed up. A little while later I happened to be right next door to a branch of the bank, First Citizens, that issued my Visa card. I went in and asked about it. They checked, and told me that my card had just been cancelled, and a new one had already been issued. I received it two days later. Peace of mind without an I-phone.

[grad_devil]

It seems your questions/complaints are more targeted at Apple Pay, which is described thusly on the Apple website:

...thanks to the innovative Near Field Communication antenna in iPhone 6...

Apple, you kill me. How cute, thinking that NFC is "innovative". My old Samsung Galaxy S3 had NFC when I bought it in 2012.

[Kdogg]

I'm a guy. Generally, in my pockets, you'll find my keys (car & house), my iPhone, some cash, some receipts, and my wallet. Inside my wallet you'll find more cash, my ID, and some credit cards.

In a couple of years, every one of those items will be gone except for my iPhone.

What happens if you drop the phone (or lose it or the battery dies etc...)? You would be locked out of your car/home with no money, no ID and no way to contact any one.

[Acymetric]

What happens if you drop the phone (or lose it or the battery dies etc...)? You would be locked out of your car/home with no money, no ID and no way to contact any one.

This may help with one of those problems down the road (I think you make a good point, even at the young age of 26, which I suppose means I'm supposed to be super tech friendly, I don't really like hinging all of my most common life functions on a relatively fragile electronic device).

[Reisen]

What happens if you drop the phone (or lose it or the battery dies etc...)? You would be locked out of your car/home with no money, no ID and no way to contact any one.

The phone will need to be able to tap into the "reserve" of the lithium ion battery, which all batteries have for a variety of reasons (most batteries actually show empty and turn the device off when they have approximately 20% charge left). Many cars today already have "smart keys", where you can unlock the car and start with a push button without ever using a physical key, you're just moving the functionality into a phone. I suspect a physical key will be a backup, though.

It'll be the same thing for your house. I could also see biometrics as a backup, similar to the iPhone's fingerprint scanner.

In terms of losing it, it's basically the same issue you have with losing your wallet and keys today, only you can easily disable it. Yes, you're combining them, so it's easier to lose a lot, but plenty of people deal with lost wallets and keys all the time.

[Kdogg]

Many cars today already have "smart keys", where you can unlock the car and start with a push button without ever using a physical key, you're just moving the functionality into a phone.

It'll be the same thing for your house. I could also see biometrics as a backup, similar to the iPhone's fingerprint scanner.

The redundancy here is a passive NFC chip. We have two cars with smart keys. One has a physical key ignition under a cover if the fob falls. The other has no physical ignition. If the battery dies, you hold the fob to the smart button to turn on the car. The fob will work even without a battery (I've tried). Some hotels have the same system. For a variety of reasons, I can't see any phone company using passive NFC chips. They want you to know if you are doing something like this with your phone.

And I haven't even addressed the security and safety issues of having all those things on one hackable device. Also I know people who have lost their wallets, or keys or phones but not many that have lost them all at the same time.

From a technology perspective, none of this is revolutionary. You could achieve your scenario (minus a driver's license in most areas) in an afternoon. It's just giving up a lot of security and dependability for the sake of convenience.