Starbucks Mobile Payment

Starbucks on Wednesday launched a mobile payment system . Now you can pay at Starbucks with a mobile app that displays a matrix barcode (or two dimensional code) for your orders. Starbucks card mobile lets users add their Starbucks cards, Track rewards, and reload cards as needed via PayPal or a credit card.

The app is free to download; once the Starbucks mobile card app loads onto your phone and the download is complete, users may enter their card number and their device will display a barcode they can use as their Starbucks card to make purchases at the register’ dedicated QR barcode scanner allowing the customer make swift and easy payments. However, it's actually no different from putting a 2D barcode on the physical Starbuck card itself. Starbucks card mobile app will be used to pay for their coffee, pastries and other stuff at starbuck’s 6,800 stores and 1,000 Starbucks locations in target stores. Currently the app is available for Blackberry, iPhone & iPod touch. They are currently working on an app for Android and Windows users.

This has left me wondering what would happen if you expose your credit cards info or barcode images to hackers. Also imagine if someone takes your phone for a minute and takes a camera shot of your barcode image, this person can end up buying café vanilla frappachinos for everyone at Starbucks for free. What would happen if you can’t buy coffee for yourself because your battery is drained or phone is stolen. These are the issues i'm worried about.








http://www.b2cmarketinginsider.com/mobile-apps/starbucks-now-offering-mobile-payments-via-new-free-starbucks-smartphone-app-09771

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Mobile-Payment-Debuts-bw-1926630830.html?x=0&.v=1

http://starbucksgossip.typepad.com/

Marketing : Nothing draws a crowd like a crowd !!!: Music Piracy

Marketing : Nothing draws a crowd like a crowd !!!: Music Piracy

Music Piracy

Music piracy is the illegal distribution of copies of sound recordings on physical carriers without the permission of the owner. It is also known as “stealing” of music. A typical example would be borrowing a friend's CD and burning a copy for yourself. Also, downloading music from the Internet if the song's royalties are not paid for.
The word “music piracy" sounds funny it makes me think of Somalian rebels on speed boats with AK47 rifles chasing Justin Bieber's yacht trying to steal his cd's. There is definitely nothing anyone can do to stop music piracy right now. There will always be ways around it no matter what legislation is brought in. It’s an almost impossible thing to control because this has become a global problem.


Here is a Possible Solution
Although I know that this can never happen, I would offer a simple possible solution for the music industry on how to curb music piracy. The Prospect of music should accept file sharing and try to monetize it vs. attacking it. Let’s assume file sharing is made legal, not in a way that enables illegal activity but in a way the music labels can accept new concepts & ideas of how music can reach a fan.Now the answer lies with the ISPs. If the music labels or copyright holders could actually acknowledge some sort of model with the ISPs it could be innovative. There will be software’s that charge these ISPs every time a person shares a music file. The more a person shares the more of a boomerang they get from these labels. Therefore increasing music sharing while having a monetized model would be flawless but I really doubt any major label is ready to embrace these new ideas.