New £1 Coin

[threegee]

 

Curiously not one article I've seen even mentions the old twelve-sided thrupenny bit, though I guess they'll probably have just about the same purchasing value!  By 2017 we'll likely be purchasing everything by NFC anyway - maybe!

 

Given how often HMG plans Gang aft agley, isn't the inclusion of a thistle a bit like tempting fate?  Much more sensible to have a picture of a nuclear submarine - so that the fishy crew would feel compelled to give them all up.

[mercuryg]

I like the new quid, I've got a tube full of them threepenny bits!

 

"By 2017 we'll likely be purchasing everything by NFC anyway - maybe!"

 

I love NFC, and believe it to be the way forward, but convincing people it is safe and secure will take some serious doing. I use a contactless card all the time, and have had no problems; however, after so many uses it's meant to ask you for your PIN, as a security measure - I've never been asked once. Also, there are reports of cards making payments without intention, i.e. by brushing past the payment scanner. Not sure how you can do anything about that.

 

Still, it should be the way forward (although I don't buy that we'll all be payin using our mobile phones - too time consuming and cumbersome).

[Symptoms]

GGG wrote: "Curiously not one article I've seen even mentions the old twelve-sided thrupenny bit, ..."

 

That's what happens when you don't take the Guardian ... full thrupenny bit reference in their report.  Go on GGG, take read the Guardian, you know deep down it'll do you good.

[threegee]

...Also, there are reports of cards making payments without intention, i.e. by brushing past the payment scanner. Not sure how you can do anything about that.

 

Still, it should be the way forward (although I don't buy that we'll all be payin using our mobile phones - too time consuming and cumbersome).

 

It doesn't have to be a phone. NFC payment in wearables might just be the killer app that manufacturers are looking for.

 

Not too removed from actuality as the watch I'm currently wearing has GSM/3G as well as bluetooth and WiFi.  I thought the phone functionality might hit the battery too hard, so, for the past couple of months I've left it in auto on/off mode (i.e. it only turns on stand alone phone functionality if you forget your phone, otherwise becomes the equivalent of a BT headset).  This morning I decided to be a bit experimental and left GSM/3G permanently on; so far the battery has stood up surprisingly well despite being in a poor signal area. NFC directly in the watch would seem to be the next logical step (My original Gear has NFC in the charging clip, but it's only intended as an aid to BT pairing).

 

You could easily prime the watch to pay by twisting your arm into an unnatural palms-up. There's already an attitude sensor to turn on the display when you twist your arm the other way; alternatively use a voice command, or button press.

 

 

 That's what happens when you don't take the Guardian ... full thrupenny bit reference in their report.  Go on GGG, take read the Guardian, you know deep down it'll do you good.

 

No thanks, get enough of the fantasy world occupied by guardinistas these days from BBC Newsnight.  Matchstick Katz and dog-end interviewers?   Now I know exactly why Paxo quit.  He's likely out a tad out on thirteen-year-olds though; 11 3/4 seems to be the current attainment level.  Evan Davis still hasn't leaned that talking over interviewees 95% of the time doesn't make for a probing interview.  It simply indicates that you hadn't framed the question properly in the first place, and that you aren't really interested in what they have to say in any event.

[Symptoms]

GGG, I'm with you on the Evan Davis question ... hopeless! 

[mercuryg]

Ggg the problem with wearables I touched on in my prior post. Non secure.