Want Everyone To See Your Credit Card Transactions? Meet Blippy.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/12/11/blippy/

by vaksel • 17 years ago

14 27 17 years ago

techcrunch.com

vaksel3• 17 years ago

dumbest idea of 2009?

guit3• 17 years ago

you don't find it at all intriguing?

vaksel3• 17 years ago

besides the technology?

no...I find it insane. How about an iPhone App that let's the world hear all of your conversations?

run4yourlives• 17 years ago

This is the part where I find I need to admit that I'm growing older. I'm no longer young and hip, but part of an older generation of "unsocial" people that see absolutely no point in something like this.

To be frank, I don't give a fuck what my friends buy. I don't care what random thoughts they have during the day either, or how many fucking cows they bought in some stupid game I've never played.

I'm sure this will do well though. Just not with me as a user.

hackoder2• 17 years ago

Its not just you, and its not about getting older. Its about being tired of watching a tread (the "social" web) beaten to its death. Its not a "great, controversial" idea, its just silly.

heresy• 17 years ago

I don't quite understand the complete lack of regard that younger people have for privacy these days, either.

It will all end in tears.

Unless you're an attention whore or a shill getting kickbacks for marketing, I really don't see the draw.

randallsquared3• 17 years ago

It will all end in tears.

It will middle in tears, anyway.

mahmud2• 17 years ago

This is heaven for marketing, can't wait for it to get integrated into Facebook. I wont use it myself, but it's great to know what people are spending money on.

teuobk• 17 years ago

What comes after this? A tool for friends to share data about with whom they're sleeping? That would seem to take "making behaviors visible" to its logical end.

(Actually, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that something of that sort exists in the dark corners of the web.)

ramanujan• 17 years ago

The only thing that would be interesting about this is if the Blippy card gave you 1% off of every transaction.

Suddenly you'd face a tradeoff between privacy vs. getting a discount[1].

That 1% could almost certainly be made up by analytics and viral referrals. If someone saw your stream and clicked on say an Amazon book, then Amazon easily makes that 1% back. In fact, for some companies the discount could be substantially more than 1%.

[1] Importantly, experiments have shown that privacy is dear but cheap. I recall an experiment where people stood in a busy area and paid people $10 for their username and password. Many took them up on it.

mattmaroon• 17 years ago

Is today April 1st? My calendar says 12/11/09 and there's snow on the ground, but it must be April 1st because there's no way this could not be a prank. Nobody could possibly think this could be popular.

randallsquared3• 17 years ago

I'd be interested in using it, but I'm a terrible predictor of what other people will find interesting.

jasonlbaptiste2• 17 years ago

Too bad hookers and blow dealers don't take credit cards.

gr366• 17 years ago

Not to worry, Square has them covered. https://squareup.com/

jasonlbaptiste2• 17 years ago

[insert evil laugh]

ruslan• 17 years ago

I think they are taking recent Eric Shmidt's quote too firm :-).

evdawg• 17 years ago

I find it completely and utterly mind boggling that anyone would find this useful. Spending habits are private: tracking your OWN is useful. But sharing everything publicly? It's insane. Guaranteed you are going to be embarrassed after you reveal your $200 purchase at the Love Shack or once your friends realize you eat at McDonalds 3 times a week. What happens people start tracking down gifts or you blow the surprise on your engagement ring?

People want to share some of the things they buy to show off, but no one wants to share everything they buy. From the mundane to the inane to the embarrassing, it's a wide window into your private life that very few would feel comfortable opening.

randallsquared3• 17 years ago

The article covers this: you register one of your cards, and use that for public purchases. They plan to provide a sticker for that card to make it more obvious.

tdoggette• 17 years ago

I predict that almost all of the reaction will be "oh, that's interesting, but I'd never use it." I also predict that CNN will at some point in the next week have this in their rotation of stories.

Want Everyone To See Your Credit Card Transactions? Meet Blippy.

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