Amidst much hand-wringing over the slump in sterling over recent months, perhaps it's worth taking a slightly broader view of currency. A good while ago, our ancestors were looking for a medium of exchange to trade goods, and experimented with various things such as furs, stones, iron bars and blocks of salt. All proved to be fairly unsuccessful until gold evolved to be the most practical medium. For many years, most currencies were backed by physical gold, and the price of gold determined the value of a currency.
In today's society, the basic act of commerce has not changed, but entrepreneurs try to find new alternative ways to facilitate transactions. With the help of their new own currency, local retailers in Brixton hope to boost spending in the area, and this is just a recent example of a long list of micro-money and local denominations. There are more than 2,500 different local currency systems worldwide. All for a reason, probably.
The Internet has also created a range of digital currencies to be able to sell and pay for goods online. The Wall Street Journal recently produced a video covering this new world of peer to peer finance which also features our partner Hub Culture’s Ven, the only digital currency that can be used both online and off.
Whether this is the future of currencies, and the future of money indeed, remains to be seen. Clearly, the way we're going to pay for goods in the future is tightly connected to the way we'll interact and communicate in the future. And as far as this can be assessed today, there is an irreversible trend towards an even more digital life as we know it.
15 October 2009
12 September 2008
Where are mobile ads heading to?
According to Informa, global mobile advertising spend will grow to $1.7bn in 2008, following an approximate billion dollars in 2007. Well – that sounds pretty impressive, as the figure is expected to increase to $2.6bn in 2009. And with the expected growth rate, the global spend will be more than $12bn in 2013.
To get those figures straight - Internet advertising in the UK alone is likely to hit $6bn in 2008. Procter&Gamble spend roughly $8bn on advertising - per year. The overall global advertising spend in 2007 is somewhere in the region of $450bn. Global mobile revenues are estimated to be more than $750bn.
Even if mobile advertising still represents a tiny fraction compared to the whole picture, it is definitely one of the major growth areas within the wireless industry. So the current euphoria is justified. The next logical and interesting step will be then to see whether consumers will fully accept (more) ads on their handsets - or whether they will have their own say on the above stated figures.
To get those figures straight - Internet advertising in the UK alone is likely to hit $6bn in 2008. Procter&Gamble spend roughly $8bn on advertising - per year. The overall global advertising spend in 2007 is somewhere in the region of $450bn. Global mobile revenues are estimated to be more than $750bn.
Even if mobile advertising still represents a tiny fraction compared to the whole picture, it is definitely one of the major growth areas within the wireless industry. So the current euphoria is justified. The next logical and interesting step will be then to see whether consumers will fully accept (more) ads on their handsets - or whether they will have their own say on the above stated figures.
25 August 2008
Gone phishing? Again??
The iPhone is a phenomenon - many people have one, many people want to have one, some want to get rid of theirs again, and some are now warning that the iPhone can even be used to go phishing.
The Safari and Mail applications on the prestigious object reportedly puts users at a risk. By the relatively old-fashioned trick of spoofing an URL, phishers are able to redirect users to websites that are not what they pretend to be.
Interesting, as Mac OSX is very immune against most attacks. But luckily there is good (and general) advice available: iPhone users should enter the addresses of sites they wish to visit manually instead of clicking on links contained in email. Until there is an official patch from Apple to fix this problem. And maybe also after the patch is available.
The Safari and Mail applications on the prestigious object reportedly puts users at a risk. By the relatively old-fashioned trick of spoofing an URL, phishers are able to redirect users to websites that are not what they pretend to be.
Interesting, as Mac OSX is very immune against most attacks. But luckily there is good (and general) advice available: iPhone users should enter the addresses of sites they wish to visit manually instead of clicking on links contained in email. Until there is an official patch from Apple to fix this problem. And maybe also after the patch is available.
5 August 2008
VoIP - threat or opportunity
According to a couple of websites, iPhone users shortly will be able to circumvent their operators' networks by using VoIP. Belgian developer Namado/Namando Telecom claims that by using their application, callers can save up to 80 per cent connecting to the internet via the terminal's wifi connection.
This is undoubtedly an extremely imteresting topic, so I wanted to learn more about the small and innovative company behind the application. Now, Namado Telecom does not exist (as this is equivalent to not being found with a homepage by google). Namando Telecom does not exist as well, nor does Namado or Namando Telekom.
The company's correct name is Nomado Telecom, and it really does exist. And I think that they have a right to being spelled correctly, as they might pose a threat to mobile operators - or a massive opportunity, depending on the point of view. And that's definitely worth being noticed.
This is undoubtedly an extremely imteresting topic, so I wanted to learn more about the small and innovative company behind the application. Now, Namado Telecom does not exist (as this is equivalent to not being found with a homepage by google). Namando Telecom does not exist as well, nor does Namado or Namando Telekom.
The company's correct name is Nomado Telecom, and it really does exist. And I think that they have a right to being spelled correctly, as they might pose a threat to mobile operators - or a massive opportunity, depending on the point of view. And that's definitely worth being noticed.
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