[milobender]

I posted this on FB this morning, and thought I'd share it here, as there are quite a few very thoughtful folks here... pardon me if it's too far afield.

Last night I had a terrible realization.

I received a regular email from Rolling Stone, and down at the bottom of the page was an ad from Motley Fool which said: "The Death of Credit Cards - The plastic in your wallet is about to go the way of the typewriter, the VCR, and the 8 track tape player. When it does, a handful of investors could stand to get very rich. You can join them - but you must act now. An eye-opening new presentation reveals the whole story on why your credit card is about to be worthless and high-lights one little-known company sitting at the epicenter of an earth-shaking movement that could hand early investors the kind of profits we haven't seen since the dot.com days. Click here to watch this stunning video". (Motley Fool is a respected investment company)

Well... how could I resist? The end of credit cards and beyond dreams profits?

The video was about a company, un-named unless I paid $147, that developed, and has implemented NFC technology. That is Near Field Communications. This is the tech that enables your 'smart-phone' to communicate with credit card machines at the restaurant or store, for whatever purchases.

The point was, that in the very near future, credit cards will be obsolete, using only your 'smart-phone' for transactions... the presentation went on to say that, not only will your credit cards (and cash) be obsolete, but so will many other common tools of society... you will no longer receive bank statements, or purchase receipts, or guarantee/warranty paper, that will be in your phone. You won't have a driver's license or passport, also in your phone. You won't need house keys or car keys, also on your phone... it will be so EASY and CONVENIENT!

Now what's so 'terrible' about that?

I suddenly realized that this is the tool that will be used to finally put us in our places... the virtual shackles at the end of this era's level of freedom.

With the literal push-of-a-button, the powers-that-be, can shut off your money, lock your house, lock your car, remove your ability to travel, or to simply buy food and know your exact location. ALL of your personal information will be available to your 'provider', who you communicate with, where you go, and everything you've purchased or invested in.

And, the really horrifying part about it, is that it will be our dollars, our greed, that rockets this technology into place. 'Earth-shaking Profits to be Made!' When this view gets into the public stock purchasing arena, and everyone 'believes' it, the funding for this insanity will snow-ball, guaranteeing it's implementation.

This IS something we can Just-Say-No-To! Don't use your phone to make purchases and stop this insanity before it goes any further!

Sales by phone are already over a billion dollars a year, and it's only just begun. The profits available are irresistible to the greedy. The only thing that can stop it is to remove the profits, by NOT USING this system.

Please 'share' this with as many folks as possible.

Love Not Fear,

Brian White

[hippieguy1954]

I do not own and do not want to own a cell phone.

[dleonard]

But you remain on facebook, where anyone can upload pictures and locations of your whereabouts?

[milobender]

Actually, my living location is known to anyone who'd like to know, however, minute to minute updates as to my whereabouts are only available through my phone, which is ONLY used as a phone (it's not a 'smart phone') and... the battery is quite often dead ... and I never put ANY personal information on FB.

[milobender]

I do not own and do not want to own a cell phone.

I'm really tempted to follow suit! The only thing I keep the phone for is emergencies... we live 25 miles out of town, at 8000 feet, and the winters here are life threatening.

[Charlie]

It is a scary scenario, but I can't see a time when cash will become completely obsolete. If this new technology is implemented and it probably will be, its convenience will probably make it the preferred method of transaction for the majority of people most of the time. However, it will remain an option rather than the only means of payment as there will remain a certain percentage of the market who are not uptakers, who will continue to use cash and/or credit cards. I believe that as long as people have a preference to use cash or cards for some transactions, they will remain in use. For example, even though marijuana has been legalised in Washington, I would expect that the majority of purchasers would opt to pay by cash rather than by credit card, as would most people purchasing adult industry products. These people may still use their smart phones to purchase ordinary items such as groceries.

I would also expect that people who use their phone to open or lock their homes or cars would retain a key as an alternate means of access in case their phone is lost or damaged.

As things stand at the moment everyone with a cell phone can be traced pretty easily and each time you make a credit card transaction there is a record of your location (and possibly a photo if you use an ATM). Your credit card can also be turned off by by your financial institution or at the request of the government. This happened to a friend of mine who went overseas and forgot to tell his bank. When transactions started happening on his card from Europe the bank suspected it had been stolen and froze the card. My friend had a couple of very uncomfortable days with no money in a foreign city until he could convince the bank to unfreeze the card.

NB: I am also one of those old luddites who has so far resisted ownership of a cell phone.

[alcorelectric]

It wont happen in my lifetime
Too much regulation and voluntary participation
my .002c

[milobender]

hmmm... maybe sooner than you think "o) Check this one out...

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/201110 ... ales.shtml

Really all it will take is for the majority of people, especially those in the higher income 50% to prefer not to use cash, and there will be legislation to follow... I can see the headlines now: Government to eliminate illegal transactions (drugs, stolen goods, guns, bribes, etc...) by stepping forward and doing away with the antiquated system of paper money... It's for our own good! And there won't be any sympathy for those who don't own cell phones... the phones themselves are free now, we simply won't be able to buy anything until we get one...

As an aside... I had a kid refuse to sell my wife and I a 'regular' cell phone, the last time we had to get new ones, telling us we just didn't understand the technology and the benefits, that we were 25 years behind the times, and it was inevitable, so we might as well get a 'smart phone' now... I told him I build my own computers, been around them since the beginning, I understand the technology, and, I want a regular phone... and he wouldn't give in... we finally left and ordered them online...

[flyingheelhook]

There is good and bad in everything. You can choose to react to either or neither, but in the long run, you will adapt one way or the other as change happens regardless. I choose to look on the bright side and hope for the best - your milage may vary.

[TI4-1009]

There is good and bad in everything. You can choose to react to either or neither, but in the long run, you will adapt one way or the other as change happens regardless. I choose to look on the bright side and hope for the best - your milage may vary.

+1

The sky is falling.