Like a lot people, I use lists within Twitter to segment content by topic, or to group together thinkers whom I admire. My favorite list has about 100 sources — both people and news organizations — and each day I read every single Tweet from that stream. On some days, I have to stay up late into the evening to keep up, especially if those sources have linked to a lot of articles. But I do it. Every single day.
So yeah, I read a lot. A lot. Here are some of the best articles that I’ve read this week. I’m posting them here, as a collection, in hopes that you’re able to take away something valuable from them, just as I have.
The Rosenbergs; ‘The Terminal’; ‘Ch-Check It Out’; Ground Zero
Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys
Description: Letters to the editor from the June 20, 2004 edition of the New York Times. The third letter is from Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys, who died earlier this week.
Best quote: “And in the process the goat died, and then I had to give the mailman one of my goats, so remember, you owe me a goat.”
140-character (or less) summary: Always keep your sense of humor. Yauch did it, in the face of a harsh review of his work by the mighty NYT. Life lesson.
10 Things Your Commencement Speaker Won’t Tell You
Description: A top-ten list that is useful not only for new graduates, but people of all ages (And okay, I’m cheating a bit with this one, because I actually read this over a week ago. But it inspired me enough to open it back up and read it again this week, so I’m including it in this list).
Best quote: “I know that I’m supposed to tell you to aspire to great things. But I’m going to lower the bar here: Just don’t use your prodigious talents to mess things up.”
140-character (or less) summary: No syrupy, forced inspiration here. And that’s okay. These tips are both practical and though-provoking.
Tap-To-Pay Smartphones: The Coming Near Field Communications Tsunami
Description: A look at the weak value proposition associated with NFC payment technology, and how Apple may be poised to alter it.
Best quote: ”One does not overcome the chicken-and-egg problem by taking it slow.”
140-character (or less) summary: Until now, NFC has been a solution in search of a problem. Apple may build an NFC ecosystem that offers new value.
Put Away The Bell Curve: Most Of Us Aren’t ‘Average’
Description: A fresh look at the bell curve. Is it really useful for categorizing human performance?
Best quote: ”Successful companies and nations would do well to identify superstars, because such performers were disproportionately likely to register new discoveries and achievements.”
140-character (or less) summary: If performance/output doesn’t neatly fit into a bell curve, should we be focusing more on nurturing superstars rather than broader groups?
You’ll never believe how LinkedIn built its new iPad app (exclusive)
Description: For nerds like me, this view into how LinkedIn constructed a hybrid native/HTML5 iPad app is manna from heaven.
Best quote: ”And a lot of that performance, Prasad said, came from removing unnecessary design wankery.”
140-character (or less) summary: 95% of LinkedIn’s iPad app is mobile web and not a native app (95%!). It’s placed neatly w/in a native wrapper, and nobody can even tell.
Taking E-Mail Vacations Can Reduce Stress, Study Says
Description: A look at the connection between email overload, constant connectivity, and stress.
Best quote: ”You probably don’t need a doctor or scientist to tell you this, but your e-mail could be killing you.”
140-character (or less) summary: I hate email. Hate it. And now that I know that it’s bad for me, I’ll give it even less time. Looks like you should stay away from it too.
Austerity, And A New Recession?
Description: An interview with Joseph Stiglitz, an economist who won the Nobel Prize in economics in 2001, on the economic impacts of austerity politics.
Best quote: ”Within academia, those who believed in free markets before the crisis still do so today… Believers in the free market have not revised their beliefs.”
140-character (or less) summary: Have I ever mentioned that I majored in both economics and finance in college? Anyway, political agendas often adversely impact economies.
The articles above represent a sample of the best content that I have read over the past week. And if you’re still reading at this point, then it probably means that you’re an avid reader too. So in that case, I’d love to hear about what you’ve read recently — suggest some links with a comment below!
Lately, I’ve become deeply troubled when I pay for items at most stores. And no, it’s not because I’ve run out of money due to poor budgeting. Nor am I suffering from kleptomania. Instead, I’ve simply grown tired of the ridiculous process that accompanies most in-store payments.
Help Me, NFC-Kenobi -- You're My Only Hope
I mean seriously, what’s the deal with having to play a game of 20 Questions when making credit/debit transactions at most stores, gas stations and other venues? Are all of those questions necessary in return for the privilege of spending my hard-earned money? For example:
- Debit or credit?
- Would I like cash back?
- Do I want the entire transaction on one card, or do I want to split it among multiple cards (ahem, Target)?
- Will I confirm the total amount?
- Would I like a receipt for my transaction?
All I want to do is swipe my card. That’s it. No additional steps required. At worst, I’d like to make a quick card swipe and then answer one prompt to confirm the payment, similar to the process that Starbucks has put in place for its payment solution for mobile devices, Starbucks Card Mobile. Of course, the payment scenarios covered in the questions above need to be accounted for, but they should be subordinate to a quick-pay process.
Hopefully, the hour of a less-maddening, wide-scale payment process is at hand. Major players — from credit card companies like Visa and MasterCard, to mobile operating system manufacturers like Apple, Google and Microsoft — are all building solutions using Near Field Communication technology that will position mobile smartphones to someday replace wallets for many consumers. If you’re not familiar with NFC, then you can check out quick primers on how it can change our daily lives and why you should care about it.
But while I’m excited about NFC (which I’ve written about before), I’m left to wonder about whether it will truly ease my pain. Porting the standard payment process from wallets to mobile phones won’t cut it. Instead, for NFC to gain quick traction as a mainstream payment option, it needs to improve the payment experience for consumers through:
- Simplicity. See above. Hint: No more games of 20 Questions.
- Password flexibility. Entering a password for every payment is untenable. Consumers should be able to choose from a range of timeout intervals to prevent frequent password re-entry (though Apple recently tightened controls in this area).
- E-receipts. If you’ve bought anything at an Apple Store lately, you’re familiar with the standard — and wonderfully convenient — option of receiving a purchase receipt by email instead of in paper form. Manufacturers of NFC hardware and software should relegate paper receipts to a secondary, optional function, requiring an extra 1-2 screen taps.
- Security. Consumer confidence will be a key driver of NFC adoption. Scare tactics — such as Verifone’s alarmist letter demanding a recall of Square credit card readers — are are almost inevitable as companies battle for share in the emerging mobile payments market. But these tactics won’t slow NFC adoption if the payment options from the top providers prove stable and secure early on.
- Multi-Account Support. I’m not backtracking from my assertion that a quick-pay process is a matter of paramount importance, but NFC payment services need to support multiple bank, credit and online (i.e. PayPal) accounts.
Are these things really too much too ask? If anyone from Visa, Apple, Google, etc. needs help understanding the key requirements for NFC payments, then I’ll be happy to answer their questions. By now I’m used to answering a lot of them. I have tolerance for about 20.
What do you think it will take for NFC to gain acceptance as a mainstream payment option? Let me know with a comment below!
