
What the Mark of the Beast Taught Me About the Future of Money - ben_pr
https://www.buzzfeed.com/charliewarzel/yes-we-scan
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joe_the_user
I tend to agree with the article that mobile payments and such don't feel like
they provide much value.

If there are system allowed people to walk into stores and just take stuff
without waiting in line, the time savings would be huge. But the time spent in
actually physically swiping a credit card is minimal so even once the glitches
are gone, the payoff in convenience is mediocre at best.

~~~
rm_-rf_slash
Why can't we have this:

Mobile phones + barcode scanners + CCTV + object/facial recognition =
convenient shopping experience where you can pick up what you need, scan it,
and walk out having paid by phone. CCTV algorithms can flag potential
shoplifters or shoppers who forgot to scan certain items. If it can be pulled
off then it could mean fewer people working checkout and less spending on
bags.

But, on the other hand, even "automated" checkout isn't terribly convenient:
the exciting game of multiple scales slows your scanning process to a crawl
compared to the checkout line and they still have people standing over and
watching to watch for shoplifting and process alcohol purchases.

I worked in a grocery store a while ago and while I understand some needs I
still don't get why there hasn't been any real innovation since the adoption
of barcode readers. Could anyone please explain why in-store automation is
always one step forward two steps back?

~~~
joe_the_user
I suspect such a system would be harder to create than one would think. Face
recognition seems like it's always to going to be too glitchy to guarantee the
smooth operation of a "pick it and leave" system. My guess is that the
smoothest functioning system would involve rfid's or the equivalent which
signal that they were close to a given shopper. Prius and other autos already
have doors that unlock only when someone is carrying the key-dongle. And
clever ways to hack these system are already here too (amplifiers, for
example).

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ezarowny
As the article makes quite clear, mobile payments are overrated. However, I
have experienced a situation where mobile payments have been better than
existing systems. Not too long ago, I discovered some fraudulent transactions
on my credit card transaction log. My bank, Chase, immediately issued me a new
credit card. Apple Pay updated within less than 15 minutes with the new card
while it took a number of days for the new credit card to arrive in the mail.

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cousin_it
Why implants? They are such a hassle to upgrade. I thought we'd skip them
entirely and go from wallets to phones to fingerprints. And then to a central
AI that can recognize you from a video feed.

~~~
madelinecameron
> fingerprints

I don't know how many times people need to repeat this: Fingerprints are
usernames, not passwords. I am really not a fan of biometrics as
identification at all.

~~~
dragonwriter
Fingerprints are neither usernames nor passwords; fingerprints can be
destroyed independently of the user, usernames should not be destroyable as
long as the user exists. Fingerprints are more something that is suitable as
an optional proxy for a username.

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MikeNomad
Cash is not going away anytime soon for at least a couple of reasons: Trust
(Account Overloards say I have 100 USD in my account when I actually have
1,000), and cash is a very handy debt instrument for the issuer.

(and)

FDR did not take the US off the gold standard, he outlawed private ownership
of gold. Nixon took the US off the gold standard in the early 70s.

~~~
hvm
> he outlawed private ownership of gold

So if you buy gold in the US, you are actually renting it from the government
or something?

~~~
ArkyBeagle
This was in the past. Gold was made just another commodity from Nixon
forwards.

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giancarlostoro
Fun fact, the mark is on the hand, to the believer of the time of Revelation
your whole arm is considered your hand. The letter "YOD" in ancient
pictographic Hebrew was the picture of a hand (it's a full arm, but described
usually as just a hand), the letter Yod is the tiniest in modern Hebrew.

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theandrewbailey
Does any one have a guess as to how future-proof these current chips are? Just
like other new tech products, I can't imagine that they will be fully
compatible with the majority of the payment ecosystem in 10 years.

~~~
madelinecameron
They are just radio-frequency chips. Unless people start changing the bands
NFC and RFID use, it really shouldn't need to be replaced. Maybe if the
battery somehow ran out but then I don't have a CompE degree so I can't really
speak about the in-depth detail about RFID chips and their power consumption
(besides they really don't consume a lot).

Maybe to get a chip with more storage (These chips are really tiny storage-
wise [last I checked] so not really something you could store a virtual wallet
on)

~~~
pavel_lishin
I believe that RFID are not battery powered - the signal that pings them is
what powers them.

~~~
madelinecameron
Ah okay, yeah. I knew they were active and passive RFID tags but I think the
last time I played with some was almost a decade ago, haha.

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dicroce
Let me begin by saying that I am a Christian.

Generally speaking I am a big believer that much of the Bible needs to be
interpreted, and in general I don't buy into the idea that it is infallible.
That said, I don't think I could get a chip implanted in my right hand for
payment purposes! It's just so on the nose with what the scripture actually
says.

~~~
ldehaan
let me begin by saying...how do you even? nobody cares what invisible person
you believe in and honestly I hope no religious person makes it to the future,
so please do hold yourself back.

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jzymbaluk
This is a very fascinating story for me. I remember as a child my (
conservative, christian ) parents having long, serious discussions about
credit cards and banking. They were wrestling with the same section of
scripture that the writer quoted, Revelations 13:16-17:

"It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to
receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads,so that they could
not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or
the number of its name."

They ended up concluding that there was no way to avoid plastic credit cards,
but if technology ever advanced to the point where payments via subcutaneous
microchip that they would reject it. I remember thinking how futuristic and
far-off that sounded, but now this is a procedure that can be done today. I
personally have left a lot of those beliefs behind, but I don't know if I
could ever feel comfortable getting a chip implanted in my hand like the
writer did.

~~~
theandrewbailey
I don't understand why Christians get anxious about applying events in
Revelations to the current day. Do they not believe that they aren't going to
be here for it?

~~~
intopieces
>Do they not believe that they aren't going to be here for it?

There are three main beliefs within Christianity:

Some believe that the rapture will occur before the rise of the Antichrist and
the events described in Revelation (note the singular).

Some believe that Christ will call home the faithful midway through the
strife.

Some believe that only those who are faithful for the complete event will be
called up.

I haven't read the book myself in a while, but I do remember being told about
these three schools of thought, as it were.

~~~
fu9ar
There are also Christians who believe it was an allegorical story based on
events that were happening when it was written.

~~~
throwanem
Yes, and we call these "most Christians". Dispensationalism of whatever stripe
is pretty unusual, for all that it was heavily discussed last decade.

~~~
bobwaycott
I don't know about this being most Christians. From my hyper-conservative,
Christian upbringing to the present day, meeting any who think of Revelation
as allegory of events long past has been exceedingly rare. Perhaps especially
here in the southeastern US.

