Re: [projectvrm] Is Google Wallet VRM?

[Rex Hammock < >]

There's are lots of "quacks" and "waddles" like VRM in there. Or, at
least for what the potential of something like this could turn into.

But as noted on this thread (and with the coverage now of how PayPal
is suing due to, well, whatever big companies sue each other over),
there's something about this announcement / product / initiative that
seems designed to disrupt or muddle other developments in this space
-- as much as it is a product unveiling.

Everything from "Square" to the startups like those we are discussing
in the thread about All My Purchases, Buyosphere, etc., will be
impacted (or challenged?) if (when?) a sizable market develops of
individuals using a comprehensive mobile "wallet" to make purchases.

In other words, I think Google's objective here is two-fold.

1. Disrupt other attempts to "own" this space by offering to champion
and defend an "open" alternative

2. Analyze the aggregated purchasing data flowing through its dominant
share of that "open" pipeline so that it will have real-time
information about every SKU -- or, put another way, the Google
algorithm will have access to "the internet of things" being purchased
offline, everywhere.

If it's truly open, I don't see why VRM standards, protocols, modules,
plug-ins, extensions or options couldn't be a incorporated into it or
built on top of it.

While I don't believe their "do no evil" claims, I think with Google
behind it, the chances of VRM considerations being a part of its
development are more likely than if it were being conceived by others
with different business-model motives (the Mastercard/Visa duopoly,
for example).

Rex

On Fri, May 27, 2011 at 5:35 AM, Doc Searls
<
 >
 wrote:
> http://www.google.com/wallet/
>
> As a service is it user driven? As in...
>
> http://blog.joeandrieu.com/2009/04/26/introducing-user-driven-services/
>
> http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/vrm/2008/04/28/vrm-is-user-driven/
>
> Is it a substitutable service?
>
> Does it make us all go Moo? That's what it sounds like here:
>
> <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZGoXvzW4WU>
>
> For more on Moo, visit Craig Burton's latest:
>
> <http://www.craigburton.com/?p=3221>
>
> Google's "vision" looks broader than that, though:
>
> <http://www.google.com/wallet/vision.html>
>
> As for VRM, how is this...
>
>> Payments, offers, loyalty, and so much more
>> Google Wallet has been designed for an open commerce ecosystem. It will 
>> eventually hold many if not all of the cards you keep in your leather 
>> wallet today. And because Google Wallet is a mobile app, it will be able 
>> to do more than a regular wallet ever could, like storing thousands of 
>> payment cards and Google Offers but without the bulk. Eventually your 
>> loyalty cards, gift cards, receipts, boarding passes, tickets, even your 
>> keys will be seamlessly synced to your Google Wallet. And every offer and 
>> loyalty point will be redeemed automatically with a single tap via NFC.
>
> ... not a personal data store/locker/vault/whatever ?
>
> To Brian's question yesterday about a simple standard for receipts, does 
> Google have one in here somewhere? Can we leverage it elsewhere?
>
> Can our personal data stores work together with Google on this thing, so 
> the commercial corner of our stores is exposed in the Wallet?
>
> Many years ago Microsoft wanted to get into this game (also using the 
> wallet metaphor) but they also wanted a piece of the action, so the banks 
> freaked and it didn't work. (Looking for sources on this. If anybody has 
> them, please send them ASAP. I just have today to get this in the book, if 
> it fits somewhere.)
>
> Amazing market hack: Google doesn't want a piece of the retail action. They 
> want to open log-jams in shopping and checkout. Reduce friction.
>
> See the FAQ:
>
> <http://www.google.com/wallet/faq.html>
>
> But, again, is it substitutable? Can it be duplicated, reverse engineered 
> by others? Is enough of the base code available for somebody to do that? 
> Why would they try, if they don't get a piece of the action?
>
> That's Google's amazing hack. There is no action to get a piece of. Just 
> like there's no action in Android. It's free for the taking, a non-tragic 
> commons.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Doc
>
>