Face.. Paper.. Signature.. (Mobile apps today!)

"Face, paper, signature.. Face beats paper and signature every time" is the slogan of up and coming mobile payment app "FaceCash," which is currently testing their payment services in Subway restaurant locations in California. The app uses facial recognition to verify payment information alongside bank account information, but thats not all folks.. This app has the ability to split payments when necessary, track your purchases, and even possibly replace ID cards! Student IDs for starters. You can also store loyalty card #'s to reduce the amount of plastic you carry around. It is similar to the Starbucks App currently in use except it will store a picture of you so that the person accepting your payment may identify you.

If this program is successful it could lead to the beginning of drive's licenses being stored on your smartphone. There will almost be no need to carry around a wallet, making wallet manufactures upset but hey.. maybe they can integrate their businesses and start to create the cases to store and protect your smartphone?

I am interested in hearing the thoughts of others on this app. Do you see any other risks associated with this that is not seen using other payment apps?

Save MySpace? Can it be saved?

Can MySpace resurrect before it starts to decompose?


My understanding was that MySpace was originally intended to follow your favorite artists locally as well as (new, old, and up & coming). You could visit their pages to listen to music, read articles, see new pictures, and find out tour date information.  If being a musician/singer was your dream, you could count on MySpace to allow you (in most cases) to upload your music for the world to hear. If you wanted to create your own page and post information about yourself pics/videos/etc you could, and connect with friends.


So what happened? 


Facebook launched and MySpace lost many of its followers.  Was too much maintenance required? I remember researching "Yahoo" at the time to look for web codes to insert into my MySpace page to create templates, add pictures, clip art etc.  This took a lot of time and many of the codes didn't work.  I know I was frustrated.  What I did like was that it was almost like a beginners guide to web page development.  So what else went wrong? Advertisement was random and clustered pages. There was no real connection between the user and the advertisements that appeared on their pages.  Facebook and Google have both done a great job at targeting advertisements to users.  I was looking for a car and searched 2009 Civic's and for about a week I would see Honda advertisements in my Google mail.  It was actually quite helpful.


Besides the fact that the typical human being will get bored eventually and will want something new and exciting, MySpace may have been too difficult for older users to follow and upkeep.  Facebook on the other hand gives clear instructions  on how to upload pictures and steps when creating your page.  The minimalist layout was sure to attract users of all ages and it has and continues to do so.


Suggestions?


Optimize advertisement, which should be easy now that they can follow in  Facebook and Google's footsteps.  Re-brand MySpace and make it a hot place to visit, a one-stop shop where you can find restaurants, music, stores, event information etc by location. Re-create the site so that it is more user-friendly and tailor to the niche communities.  Include categories where people with the same interests can mingle.  In the right hands, MySpace can be resurrected.


The Cheese




There can only be one

Save MySpace article from 2009