

How Twitter could be worth a billion dollars in a year: Mobile payments - fromedome
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/6/how-twitter-will-be-worth-a-billion-in-a-year

======
jonknee
This is nothing but fluff. Amazon and PayPal already do this and (not
surprisingly) it's not too popular. I'd rather just buy you a damn beer at the
bar than send you a few bucks.

I'd much prefer RFID inside mobile phones to catch on so that I can just do
payments with it instead of cash/cards.

~~~
bprater
Paypal isn't popular? Ruh? Amazon isn't popular because it didn't create a
"killer app" for the concept.

I think the idea is fucking brilliant. Instead of ad injection for revenue,
take Paypal on directly.

I'm a buy-my-buddy-a-beer kind of guy, too -- but there are circumstances
where it would be convenient to move money to family and friends.

If my brother buys me movie tickets because I'm getting to the theater late,
twittering him payment during previews beats trying to mentally remember how
much I owe him when I am buying ice cream later.

If you are already familiar with the Twitter UI, it isn't a stretch to learn
an additional command.

~~~
jonknee
PayPal and Amazon are extremely popular. Their mobile payment services, while
quite easy to use, are not popular. I think PayPal even shuttered their SMS
service and is keeping with the mobile site. Amazon's was actually a
YCombinator startup (TextPayMe.com). If you're looking to pay your brother for
ice cream, get on it:

[https://payments.amazon.com/sdui/sdui/productsServices?sn=mo...](https://payments.amazon.com/sdui/sdui/productsServices?sn=mobilePayments/whatIsIt)

It's almost exactly what this clown thinks is going to make Twitter with a
billion dollars, but already in existence and not worth a billion dollars. Oh
and you can count on Amazon's service working for more than 10 minutes without
going down. That's gotta be worth something.

------
stcredzero
If Twitter could make it really easy to pay for something, then tweet about
stuff you liked, this would be gold! Marketers would be drooling over this
stuff. Also, this opens the path to micropayments.

Another drooly - enable the infrastructure as a series of browser plug-ins.
This way, every site becomes a part of the system by default.

~~~
sanj
Right. Because every internet user spends time installing browser plugins.

------
lpgauth
I have to pay $0.15 for each SMS I send. I'd rather use my credit card.

~~~
ivankirigin
Each credit card transaction costs someone at least $0.15. You just don't see
it.

~~~
lpgauth
I don't pay it, the retailer does.

~~~
ivankirigin
And you think this doesn't influence the price you pay?

------
j2d2
I agree that the microblogging was an convenient excuse for building an
infrastructure. I think this is why Jeff Bezos is excited about Twitter.

------
markbao
This sounds like PayPal's original intention: transfer money using Palm
devices.

PayPal/Max Levchin Interview, Founders at Work, Jessica Livingston, 2007.

------
TweedHeads
What stops Jaiku from stealing Twitter's thunder?

I bet Google has way more resources and brilliant minds to see it go live
before twitter even think on the database design.

Mix with google checkout and there you have a killer payment option.

