Michael Turner wrote:
>
> [...I actually read the quoting before I removed it!...]
>
> I said (try actually reading that "excessive quoting" before removing it)
> that cMode AS IT WILL FINALLY FLY -- one point, one click, item goes on
> your phone bill -- would be quite a bit more convenient than fishing change
> out of your pocket and slotting it.
>
I can think of other situations where cMode will be more convenient
than coins (and I actually ran into this situation this weekend)...
that situation is: when you can't buy the product except through
cMode. In particular I'm referring to the sale of bits rather than
atoms.
My particular case in point wasn't executed through a keitai, but
that's more because of the circumstance than anything else... my
friend has a pre-pay phone and was looking for a "recharge card".
These are a little hard to find after hours, when all the AU shops
are closed; so, I suggested stopping by a Lawson to buy one. Some
Lawsons actually carry the physical card and some don't. In this
particular lawson the sales/re-stocking droid was asked if they
sold AU recharge cards and the answer was "No! (go away gaijin)".
So, I pointed at the little kiosk sitting in the corner of the
store and proceeded to produce a receipt for a AU recharge card.
My friend paid the other sales/re-stocking droid (the "no" man
had disappeared as soon as I pointed at the kisok) for the phone
card and 10 seconds later, a receipt (including the pin number)
was printed out and handed to us.
...now before you begin protesting that FamliMart/Lawson/HotSpar
Kiosks are *not* cMode and an exchange of cash moneys was involved,
remember that this is the archetype that cMode wants to displace
once your telephone bill becomes a component of your bank account
(and I suppose that will happen once NTT/Docomo merges with the
appropriate finical entities and decides that the fraud risk is
acceptably low)
Is there really any doubt in anybody's mind that this is going to
happen? In Japan, I believe that this is going to be far bigger
than credit cards could have ever become.
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Received on Tue Sep 18 20:39:40 2001