Amazing Mobile Payments



Visa Mobile Payments



Doesn't it seem like our cell phones have the capabilities to do anything? Cell phones can be used to take pictures, send email, get directions, text message, record videos, check Facebook, go on YouTube, and of course make phone calls. While the list of capabilities grows, add one more thing; now you can make mobile payments. Visa has invested in Square, which will allow phones and iPads to be credit card readers. This entry will analyze how the media has been covering this new idea of mobile payments.

New York Times blogger Claire Cain Miller wrote an article on April 27th that really described the Square, some of it's competition, and what exactly it could do for the world. The Square could possibly turn 27 million businesses that don't accept credit cards into Visa customers. In the video below Mary Carol Harris from Visa describes the plan for mobile payments.

Another article compiled by PRNewswire on April 27th helped to establish trust for businesses by describing a set of mobile acceptance practices put together by Visa for merchants, software developers, and device manufactures that are using consumer mobile devices to accept credit card payments.

"Building security into the DNA of mobile acceptance solutions is necessary to help grow the channel and encourage innovation," said Bill Gajda, head of global mobile product, Visa Inc. "Providing security guidance to retailers and the industry, as mobile phones used as card acceptance devices are still emerging, will help ensure acceptance solutions are secure, provide a strong foundation for future growth of this channel and foster consumer trust in mobile commerce."

Will Hernandez of the American Banker wrote an article on April 12th that described the mobile payments plan as an opportunity for growth. The article focuses on Visa Europe, and incorporates many of the  investments and steps that have been taken to get Visa to the point of mobile payments. An interesting fact that was highlighted revealed that Visa Europe has invested $1.4 billion dollars yearly since 2004 to payment technology, including mobile payments.

All in all, what I find to be so astonishing is the progression of overall idea. It seems unreal to me that we could be using our cell phones to pay for things. Really, it's genius. We always carry our phones with us. They would always be available to make payments. Mobile payments are a great example of the progression of our overall technology. It will be interesting to see how it all unfolds.

Kids and Technology

Kid's love technology!

As the use of technology rises, so does a younger age group of users. Children are intrigued by the idea of technology! Using technology has become an everyday part of daily life for children of all ages. But now, this issue has created an ongoing debate about whether or not this has a positive or negative effect. The media has dipped their toes in this debate as well. In this entry I will analyze how the media is covering this topic with concerns from a parents perspective.
 

Huffington Post writter April Rudin wrote an article on April 21st, entitled; Why parents  must be on top of their kids online escapades. Rudin is the parent of three teenage sons, who she has encouraged to actively use technology and go online. Her worries were minute until she attended the International Youth and Technology Forum on Digital Citizenship. Panelist discussions focused on social networking sites; how sites like these give teens the opportunity to create a public image that may or may not reflect the in-person reality. After the conference, Rudin expressed that parents need to take a more active role in learning about technology, as well as engaging in their children's social interactions online.

On April 18th, Jeneba Ghatt of the Washington Times wrote an article that examined both the good and bad of children and the use of technology. Ghatt, who is also a parent, limits her children's use of technology in her household by reducing the amounts of TV and games they consume during the school week, and during meals. She understands that technology can have some negative affects on children but still emphasizes its value. She explained that it's important for kids to know how to maneuver technology. It may help them in the future preparing for and acquiring careers.

In Orono Maine, Auburn schools are preparing to give each kindergartner a iPad. Abigail Curtis of the Bangor Daily News wrote on April 22nd about different opinions teachers, school officials, and parents are having with the idea. Teachers emphasize the usefulness of the iPad to help children learn their alphabet. GeekBeat did a blurb about this in the video below. Parents are sharing their concerns as well. One mom, who's son participates in speech and occupational therapy, stressed the importance of communication and interaction with his peers. She worries that he will instead be distracted by the tool in his hands.

With a very diverse group of opinions from each of these news articles, one thing is for sure, their antenna's are up! Parents are recognizing and understanding that technologies are going to be a part of their children's futures and can have both positive and negative effects. It's their job to help their children put it to good use.

A Big Change

The New York Times

Some people like change, while others don't. For the New York Times, change is a big deal. The New York Times is doing what most media outlets have been afraid to do; charging its readers for online journalism. The buzz about this modification has been huge. So, today this blog entry will cover how other media outlets are addressing and covering the New York Times choice to make it's readers pay for online journalism.


To start, let me just give you a little background on what actually is going on. According to a March 20th New York Times article written by Jeremy W. Peters, starting March 28th, readers will have to pay for reading online content. The subscription plan includes $15/month for access to the web and a mobile phone app, $20/month for web access and an iPad app, or $35/month for an all access plan. Although the topic is highly controversial, and readers as well as journalists are not quite sure what to think, the New York Times took the leap anyway.

Because of this decision, other media outlets having been taking all kinds of approaches to reporting what exactly is going on.

Blogger Nick Baumann of Mother Jones blogged on April 1st about the new paywall. Baumann reported about New York Times stats expert Nate Silver, who put together a model to try to quantify what $15 would actually get you. Silver compared how much original content you would receive from the New York Times in comparison with the other leading media outlets, which Baumann commented, made the New York Times look pretty good.

Another article on April 1st by James Taranto of the Wall street Journal didn't quite report things that were quite as nice. He reported about Arianna Huffington, who made a little April fools fun with the paywall. 

Arianna Huffington

Arianna Huffington thinks she's funny. "Today . . . we introduce digital subscriptions for employees of The New York Times," boasts Puffington Host hostess Huffington in a Puffintgon Host post. It's April Fool's Day, of course, and Huffington is having some fun--or trying, anyway--at the expense of the Times and its porous paywall.

On March 29, Lance Ulanoff of PCMAG.com, described many of the positive and negative sides to the New York Times decision. Ulanoff also expressed that he saw changes like this coming for the media world, and that company's can't afford to just give away their best stuff.

For me, I agree with Ulanoff. We all knew a change like this was coming, we just didn't know when. The reactions people are having, I think are kind of funny. I believe those who love the New York Times will either pay to read it online or just find some way to get around the paywal and read it anyways, which is already a problem and can illustrated in the video below.