The Register SMS messages cause Reebok riots
"A mobile marketing firm caused mayhem in the Lakeside shoping centre, Thurrock, when it sent out a text message offering a free pair of Reebok trainers to whoever turned up at a new shop with their phone.

The store manager was a little overwhelmed when over 50 people turned up within four minutes, the Financial Times reported. A Reebok top nob said the company wasn't going to make a habit of such giveaways although he didn't mention how many pairs were dished out - was it just the one? Seems a bit stingy if it was. And did anyone buy anything while they were there?

Anyway, the company behind it, ZagMe, has had 2000 shoppers sign up for the service in the first four days - trampling on its more conservative estimates - so it might well be on to something."

redux [10.31.00]
E-commerce Times Tangled Up in Wireless E-Commerce
"The marketing ploy for those new wireless tracking devices we've heard so much about might go something like this:

"Say, Mr. Consumer, let's say you're walking down the street in a strange part of the city and you happen to pass by Ray's Pizzeria, one of many such fine eating establishments in the world. Your head is lost in a swirl of ledger sheets and profit margins -- fine businessman that you are, Mr. Consumer -- and of course you don't notice what a great opportunity you're passing by."

"But your phone does! It starts to beep and ring, and produces a 50 percent off coupon for a large pizza, heavy on the cheese, light on the anchovies and garlic because -- wink wink -- your phone also knows you're scheduled for a big date later on down at the Happy Valley bar and grill. For which, by the way, we have directions, in case you need them.

"How would you like that, Mr. Consumer?""

"If wireless is the ongoing revolution, then wireless tracking is the next-next thing. Technically, it's called location tracking, and the technology can be built into almost anything. That's the good news and the bad news."

MSNBC The digital guardian angel
"Imagine walking by a Starbucks in an unfamiliar city. Your cell phone rings, and a coupon for coffee pops up on its screen, good only at that location.

HOW DID YOUR PHONE know you were even near that particular Starbucks? What else does it know about you? Enter location tracking, coming to a mobile device near you. Features that one day can pinpoint your whereabouts to within the length of a football field raise enormous privacy concerns, but they also offer enormous benefits.

The challenge will be determining where to draw the line.

Consider a technology unveiled Monday. Called Digital Angel, a microchip worn close to the body promises to record a person’s biological parameters and send distress signals during medical emergencies.

But misused, these types of capabilities could amount to virtual stalking."

redux [06.17.00]
Infoworld Oh the horror, the horror: The new world of wireless commerce runs amok
"Stop and ask yourself: "Just because we're developing the capability of purchasing via mobile systems, does that really mean people are going to develop a sudden and inexplicable Pavlovian desire to buy all the time?" Do we really expect the world to be gripped by the same fever that drives the Home Shopping Network? My bank account just happens to be a few orders of magnitude smaller than Bill Gates', so I actually don't want to spend money all the time."

"M-commerce -- no, make that successful m-commerce -- will not be about purchases. M-commerce will be about providing information which facilitates a purchase. Don't think commerce, think communication. There's a Grand Canyon-sized gap between those two ideas. It's the difference between offering a gadget for sale via handheld and giving access to information about that gadget -- the reviews, who's put it on their Christmas list, etc. -- and the ability to make a note to one's self: "Check this out, I might want it.""