Can SMS Save Mobile Commerce?
Gartner is wondering if SMS is going to be the savior of m-commerce, blaming its previous failure on the complexities of programmers trying to take web-based transaction systems and simply port them to the mobile phone. Using SMS, they argue, brings it down to the lowest level of simplicity, and lets people use a technology they're already familiar with. I agree that using SMS will help, but this also ignores the fact that most early m-commerce applications ignored the fact that they were "mobile". That is, they were set up to let you order a book on Amazon.com from anywhere... and then wait a week to receive it. There was no compelling reason why someone couldn't wait until they got to a computer to order the same book. It was mobile commerce for the sake of mobile commerce, and not to make life easier for the user.
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Filed Under: mcommerce
