Favorite New Technologies

[houstonmacbro]

Just a list of my favorite new technologies and Web 2.0 services

1. Facebook
   
2. Twitter
   
3. Twitbin for Firefox
   
4. Jing Project
   
5. Flock browser
   

What are some of yours?

I am sure there are more, but that's a good start

[editor]

I don't swallow the whole "web 2.0 services" cliche, but what I think you're asking is what are my favorite web sites.

I'll second the nomination for Facebook. Twitter I'm OK with, but I wish I could just update one and have it reflect on the other. For news aggregators ("dynamic social crowdsourcing information networking technologies"), I like Fark and on rare occasions Slashdot.

And if you can list Flock as a Web 2.0 technology, then I'll list iTunes.

It's funny how the top web sites now in the "web 2.0 multisource social tagging geo.slash torrented AJAX lol folksonomy" era are the same as they were ten years ago: Microsoft, Apple, eBay, Yahoo!, Google, Geocities (now called "MySpace"), AOL, CNN, ESPN, The Weather Channel, The New York Times, etc...

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

[houstonmacbro]

I don't swallow the whole "web 2.0 services" cliche, but what I think you're asking is what are my favorite web sites.

I'll second the nomination for Facebook. Twitter I'm OK with, but I wish I could just update one and have it reflect on the other. For news aggregators ("dynamic social crowdsourcing information networking technologies"), I like Fark and on rare occasions Slashdot.

And if you can list Flock as a technology, then I'll list iTunes.

It's funny how the top web sites now in the "web 2.0 multisource social tagging geo.slash torrented AJAX lol folksonomy" era are the same as they were ten years ago: Microsoft, Apple, eBay, Yahoo!, Google, Geocities (now called "MySpace"), AOL, CNN, ESPN, The Weather Channel, The New York Times, etc...

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Yeah, it's all good. I think the updating one to reflect them all is what Friendster is all about? I have an account and am trying to understand it, but even though I am pretty techinically savvy, I now feel 'old' and not sure what to do with it.

LOL

[editor]

Yeah, sorry if my previous message sounded bitchy. I have a raging headache this New Year's Morn.

• Thinking about it further, I'll add a nomination for the tagging feature of HD Radio, which I didn't think would be useful until I started using it. Now I'm hooked.
  
• In that same milieu, the Shazam program for the iPhone. My wife used up her entire Christmas iTunes gift card buying songs that she Shazamed while walking through stores around town.
  
• Also, Make Magazine and its web site, which turn "social" into "useful" by aggregating new and forgotten information for creating real-life things and making them available to everyone so they can improve their real lives.
  
• I think the 3D printers are going to be revolutionary once they become just slightly more affordable and useable.
  
• I also nominate the RSS protocol, which after 15 years is finally starting to gain traction now that RSS is built in to most browsers.
  

Yeah, it's all good. I think the updating one to reflect them all is what Friendster is all about? I have an account and am trying to understand it, but even though I am pretty techinically savvy, I now feel 'old' and not sure what to do with it.

I don't have a Friendster account, but I have the same problem you're having with LinkedIn. From what I've been told, it is to Facebook what Facebook is to MySpace. Beyond that, I'm not sure how many social web sites I really need to be a part of.

What I would really like is a way to open different Twitter accounts in different tabs. Since HAIF and all of its sister sites each have their own Twitter feed, this would be really useful.

[editor]

Another one: Online Banking. But not from your bank. From all the people you owe money to. Since the 1970's and CompuServe days banks have been trying to get us to pay our bills online through them. 40 years later, it's still not working. But I recently saw an interesting statistic that I fall into: Something like 80% of people pay at least some of their bills online. But only 10% do it through their banks online banking service. The rest go to the web sites of each company they owe money to and pay there. To me, this shows trust in electronic transactions, but a fundamental distrust of banks.

I think some day in the future the banks will be cut out as the middlemen in the credit card industry. We'll all be able to send and receive money through Visa and Mastercard accounts, even in minute amounts, the way we do now with PayPal.

And getting back to what I said earlier -- now that I think of it, I'd sooner pay my bills through PayPal than through Washington Mutual's web site. It's something the banks forgot about in the 80's -- it's all about trust.

[houstonmacbro]

I love RSS too. I use Net News Wire and can pre-select the types of news I want to read. I applaud Google (and to some extent Yahoo) for making some of these services more user friendly.

As for paying online. I pretty much ONLY use my bank because 1) It's free and 2) There are no additional fees from the vendor --why would there be extra fees for me to pay my electricity bill at the vendor's site? I am not sure either, but several of the companies I do business with add surcharges when I pay at their sites.

That sux!

Yeah, sorry if my previous message sounded bitchy. I have a raging headache this New Year's Morn.

• Thinking about it further, I'll add a nomination for the tagging feature of HD Radio, which I didn't think would be useful until I started using it. Now I'm hooked.
  
• In that same milieu, the Shazam program for the iPhone. My wife used up her entire Christmas iTunes gift card buying songs that she Shazamed while walking through stores around town.
  
• Also, Make Magazine and its web site, which turn "social" into "useful" by aggregating new and forgotten information for creating real-life things and making them available to everyone so they can improve their real lives.
  
• I think the 3D printers are going to be revolutionary once they become just slightly more affordable and useable.
  
• I also nominate the RSS protocol, which after 15 years is finally starting to gain traction now that RSS is built in to most browsers.
  

I don't have a Friendster account, but I have the same problem you're having with LinkedIn. From what I've been told, it is to Facebook what Facebook is to MySpace. Beyond that, I'm not sure how many social web sites I really need to be a part of.

What I would really like is a way to open different Twitter accounts in different tabs. Since HAIF and all of its sister sites each have their own Twitter feed, this would be really useful.

I just read an article about name jacking on Twitter. I find it pretty lame, also, that you cannot open more than one account (unless you have different e-mails).

[editor]

I love RSS too. I use Net News Wire and can pre-select the types of news I want to read. I applaud Google (and to some extent Yahoo) for making some of these services more user friendly.

As for paying online. I pretty much ONLY use my bank because 1) It's free and 2) There are no additional fees from the vendor --why would there be extra fees for me to pay my electricity bill at the vendor's site? I am not sure either, but several of the companies I do business with add surcharges when I pay at their sites.

That sux!

Yeah, that does suck. None of the bills I pay charge extra for online bill pay (Comcast, credit cards, grocery delivery, etc...). In fact, most of them encourage it with little flyers in the envelopes. I really didn't know that there are companies that charge extra to pay online. Though, my grocery company gives you a $1 discount if you pay online with a check instead of a credit card.

The only bill I don't pay online is the electric company. For some reason Commonwealth Edison just hasn't figured that out. And rent. I wish I could pay rent with my check card. I'd get a brazillion frequent flyer miles that way.

[houstonmacbro]

I wish I could pay rent with my check card. I'd get a brazillion frequent flyer miles that way.

See, I just know it's the man. He (or quite possibly she these days) wants to keep you down.

LOL

[memebag]

Online banking r00lz. I pay everything from my banks' sites. No more envelopes, no writing checks, no stamps. Everything is fast and easy and I never miss a payment. It's all done from one web page (for each bank) and I can see payment details and history for each payee.

AJAX r00lz. iGoogle is the shiznizzle. The portal dreams of 1999 have finally come true, and now I am my own news aggregator. Google docs is very slick, too.

I still don't get Facebook, Myspace or Twitter. I really don't want anyone knowing what I'm doing. If they need to know, I will tell them face to face.

My absolute favorite "new" technology is still my Blackberry. Never again do I have to be sitting in a restaurant and wonder what films featured Ray Bolger. The Blackberry provides constant access to the web. I can get directions to anything. I can see what movies are showing where. I can edit my Google docs, read mail and news. One of the best uses is to look up product reviews and compare prices while I'm standing in a store looking at some product. I can't count the number of times I almost bought some gadget, only to find out it has a fatal flaw or can be obtained for less via mail order. That totally r00lz, d00d.

[houstonmacbro]

Online banking r00lz. I pay everything from my banks' sites. No more envelopes, no writing checks, no stamps. Everything is fast and easy and I never miss a payment. It's all done from one web page (for each bank) and I can see payment details and history for each payee.

AJAX r00lz. iGoogle is the shiznizzle. The portal dreams of 1999 have finally come true, and now I am my own news aggregator. Google docs is very slick, too.

I still don't get Facebook, Myspace or Twitter. I really don't want anyone knowing what I'm doing. If they need to know, I will tell them face to face.

My absolute favorite "new" technology is still my Blackberry. Never again do I have to be sitting in a restaurant and wonder what films featured Ray Bolger. The Blackberry provides constant access to the web. I can get directions to anything. I can see what movies are showing where. I can edit my Google docs, read mail and news. One of the best uses is to look up product reviews and compare prices while I'm standing in a store looking at some product. I can't count the number of times I almost bought some gadget, only to find out it has a fatal flaw or can be obtained for less via mail order. That totally r00lz, d00d.

Yeah, it seems like the people that use the services are finally catching up to the possibilities. I don't have a BB, but I understand how nice it is to have 'the web' within constant reach.

Speaking of new technology, does anyone have any experience with the new netbooks. I have seen a $300 Linux model at Target but it is TOO small. I think it was a 9" ... I did see the 10" models and even though they are only 1" bigger, it makes a HUGE difference in screen size. I would rather have one of those than spring for an iPhone. Getting tired of lugging my 13" Macbook around and these would fit the niche. Also, I don't mind the Linux versions as I think Windows sux overall and would rather do without the overhead that comes with it.

Pros-Cons?

[editor]

My absolute favorite "new" technology is still my Blackberry. Never again do I have to be sitting in a restaurant and wonder what films featured Ray Bolger. The Blackberry provides constant access to the web. I can get directions to anything. I can see what movies are showing where. I can edit my Google docs, read mail and news. One of the best uses is to look up product reviews and compare prices while I'm standing in a store looking at some product. I can't count the number of times I almost bought some gadget, only to find out it has a fatal flaw or can be obtained for less via mail order. That totally r00lz, d00d.

Good point. Mobile access to information is the game changer. Mobile will be the next bubble, like video games in the 80's and cheap internet access in the 90's and web sites in the 2000's. Mobile will be huge in the 2010's.

[cottonmather0]

It took me a while to really get into it, but about a year ago I started working REALLY hard on making Linkedin work for me and I am quite pleased with the results. It is nothing more than a big giant rolodex and works very very well when used for networking. Although I started my own company and use it to network into sales leads (which it works well for), it's also quite good for job hunting, too. If you find an opening on a company's website (or you hear something offline), just log on your LI account and do a search to find the name of someone at that particular organization in that particular group or role, then figure out a way to get in touch with them. If someone has taken the time to set up an account they are usually going to be very accommodating and friendly and helpful once you get in touch with them and explain that you found their name via the site. I think it's a great tool.

Another tip: people on LI love joining groups and if you set up your own new group with you as the moderator, once people start joining your group Linkedin lets you see their email address as part of your moderator privileges. That makes it much easier to get in touch with someone with whom you're not connected - you don't have to risk a "don't know" response to an invitation, you don't have to rely on your friends to "introduce" you (which never works), and you don't have to guess at an email address(ie Bob.Smith@cisco.com or Bob_Smith@cisco.com?). It's very helpful. Plus, you also get a guaranteed icebreaker by introducing yourself as, "the owner of the Houston Basket Weavers group on Linkedin." If people are in the group then they will always want to talk to you. It sounds more impressive than it really is, but the benefits are very good.

I've never really understood Facebook or Myspace, though. They both seem kind of juvenile and risky if someone were to go Google your name and anything unprofessional come up. I like Linkedin because it's intended for professionals, but even then you kind of have to be careful what gets admitted or linked to on the internet. Some people put a link to their party blog right next to their company's homepage and that seems kind of dumb to me.

And as far as Twitter, maybe I am missing something, but what's the point? ("Walking across the street to buy some shoes." tweet tweet "Sitting in the park listening to music." tweet tweet )

Others:

I like Yelp on the iPhone. There are plenty of similar apps, so pick your own, but having a GPS device in the car and being able to say "What's near here?" and find out is pretty useful.

There is also an iPhone app called "SportsTap" that provides a continuous live feed to sports results without having to wade through a web browser. I like that a lot, particularly since they have European soccer scores right up front for free.

I am also a fan of most TV programming being HD by now too, although that's a bit pedestrian, I will admit. My kid LOVES Elmo in the morning and now it's easier to watch it with him since DirecTV picked up KUHT in HD last month.

Another good thing is the ultra cheap price and availability now of solid state memory. Most computers these days come with 2GB standard, which just a couple of years ago would have been unthinkable. Thumb drives and memory cards are also much cheaper. 18 months ago I bought a new camera and paid $120 for a 4GB memory card. Today you can get one for $25 or so. This is going to cause a huge change in the size and price of many electronics devices in the very near future - we're only now starting to see the benefits.

I am sure there are others but that's what's on top of my head.

[editor]

Speaking of new technology, does anyone have any experience with the new netbooks. I have seen a $300 Linux model at Target but it is TOO small. I think it was a 9" ... I did see the 10" models and even though they are only 1" bigger, it makes a HUGE difference in screen size. I would rather have one of those than spring for an iPhone. Getting tired of lugging my 13" Macbook around and these would fit the niche. Also, I don't mind the Linux versions as I think Windows sux overall and would rather do without the overhead that comes with it.

I don't have one but I've used a couple. It kind of bridges that gap between iPhone and laptop, but the ones I've used don't satisfy either, really. Like anything else, it's a compromise. You have to decide what's more important to you -- portability or power. For me, I'm all about mobility so I'll stick with my iPhone. But if you need something with just a little more oomph (keyboard, screen real estate) in order to surf or comfortably write long e-mails, then the netbook is not a bad choice. Since it's main function is internet access, it's finally the embodiment of the "thin clients" that were all the rage in the late 90's that were supposed to revolutionize computing. Well, they're finally here, but we call them "netbooks."

If you're the sort of person who carries a bag with you at all times, then go for the larger screen. But don't go too large, or you're right back where you were with the laptop. If you don't carry a bag, then go for the smaller size.

And don't worry about picking Linux over Windows on them. From what I've read and been told, the ones that run Windows do it very slowly or a stripped down version or it drains the battery. Linux seems to be the preferred vehicle for netbooks. I think that because of netbooks it's going to be the OS of choice for casual users in the near future the way Windows 95 was for so long.

There was a tech analyst on the radio yesterday saying he sees $99 netbooks coming out by this spring. You may want to hold off and see what the immediate future brings.

[houstonmacbro]

It took me a while to really get into it, but about a year ago I started working REALLY hard on making Linkedin work for me and I am quite pleased with the results. It is nothing more than a big giant rolodex and works very very well when used for networking. Although I started my own company and use it to network into sales leads (which it works well for), it's also quite good for job hunting, too. If you find an opening on a company's website (or you hear something offline), just log on your LI account and do a search to find the name of someone at that particular organization in that particular group or role, then figure out a way to get in touch with them. If someone has taken the time to set up an account they are usually going to be very accommodating and friendly and helpful once you get in touch with them and explain that you found their name via the site. I think it's a great tool.

Another tip: people on LI love joining groups and if you set up your own new group with you as the moderator, once people start joining your group Linkedin lets you see their email address as part of your moderator privileges. That makes it much easier to get in touch with someone with whom you're not connected - you don't have to risk a "don't know" response to an invitation, you don't have to rely on your friends to "introduce" you (which never works), and you don't have to guess at an email address(ie Bob.Smith@cisco.com or Bob_Smith@cisco.com?). It's very helpful. Plus, you also get a guaranteed icebreaker by introducing yourself as, "the owner of the Houston Basket Weavers group on Linkedin." If people are in the group then they will always want to talk to you. It sounds more impressive than it really is, but the benefits are very good.

I've never really understood Facebook or Myspace, though. They both seem kind of juvenile and risky if someone were to go Google your name and anything unprofessional come up. I like Linkedin because it's intended for professionals, but even then you kind of have to be careful what gets admitted or linked to on the internet. Some people put a link to their party blog right next to their company's homepage and that seems kind of dumb to me.

And as far as Twitter, maybe I am missing something, but what's the point? ("Walking across the street to buy some shoes." tweet tweet "Sitting in the park listening to music." tweet tweet )

Others:

I like Yelp on the iPhone. There are plenty of similar apps, so pick your own, but having a GPS device in the car and being able to say "What's near here?" and find out is pretty useful.

There is also an iPhone app called "SportsTap" that provides a continuous live feed to sports results without having to wade through a web browser. I like that a lot, particularly since they have European soccer scores right up front for free.

I am also a fan of most TV programming being HD by now too, although that's a bit pedestrian, I will admit. My kid LOVES Elmo in the morning and now it's easier to watch it with him since DirecTV picked up KUHT in HD last month.

Another good thing is the ultra cheap price and availability now of solid state memory. Most computers these days come with 2GB standard, which just a couple of years ago would have been unthinkable. Thumb drives and memory cards are also much cheaper. 18 months ago I bought a new camera and paid $120 for a 4GB memory card. Today you can get one for $25 or so. This is going to cause a huge change in the size and price of many electronics devices in the very near future - we're only now starting to see the benefits.

I am sure there are others but that's what's on top of my head.

I really didn't understand Twitter either until I installed a plugin called Twitbin to make it easier to tweet and read tweets. Now it works in the browser and I can respond to information. As for using it, it is addictive. Yes, a lot of people only talk about what they're doing, but a lot of it is also sharing information (stories, articles, blogs, etc.) links that you might have never heard of. It's like one big party line updated 24-day. I have pretty much abandoned Facebook on a daily basis for Twitter.

[cottonmather0]

I really didn't understand Twitter either until I installed a plugin called Twitbin to make it easier to tweet and read tweets. Now it works in the browser and I can respond to information. As for using it, it is addictive. Yes, a lot of people only talk about what they're doing, but a lot of it is also sharing information (stories, articles, blogs, etc.) links that you might have never heard of. It's like one big party line updated 24-day. I have pretty much abandoned Facebook on a daily basis for Twitter.

That is a fair point. Your post might just persuade me to look into that again.

Speaking of the iPhone, here is a picture I just took of my lunch on the stove. Happy New Year! (maybe I should tweet this update? LOL)

[houstonmacbro]

I really didn't understand Twitter either until I installed a plugin called Twitbin to make it easier to tweet and read tweets. Now it works in the browser and I can respond to information. As for using it, it is addictive. Yes, a lot of people only talk about what they're doing, but a lot of it is also sharing information (stories, articles, blogs, etc.) links that you might have never heard of. It's like one big party line updated 24-day. I have pretty much abandoned Facebook on a daily basis for Twitter.

You make a lot of good points. I normally do carry a bag with me for all my other junk. I have an iPod touch but really need more real estate to write and blog and do all my other online life stuff. I cannot do it as efficiently on an iPhone or BB as I would like (I don't know for sure, but I've tried a lot of it on my iPod touch which is 98% iPhone and just dont like it too much).

I wouldn't go too large, and it would really just be either a 10" or nothing.

Thanks for the advice. I will keep an eye out for spring sales (no rush really).

That is a fair point. Your post might just persuade me to look into that again.

Speaking of the iPhone, here is a picture I just took of my lunch on the stove. Happy New Year! (maybe I should tweet this update? LOL)

You should. Looks yummy. Italian wedding (soup?) or just bean soup?

[cottonmather0]

You make a lot of good points. I normally do carry a bag with me for all my other junk. I have an iPod touch but really need more real estate to write and blog and do all my other online life stuff. I cannot do it as efficiently on an iPhone or BB as I would like (I don't know for sure, but I've tried a lot of it on my iPod touch which is 98% iPhone and just dont like it too much).

I wouldn't go too large, and it would really just be either a 10" or nothing.

Thanks for the advice. I will keep an eye out for spring sales (no rush really).

You should. Looks yummy. Italian wedding (soup?) or just bean soup?

Black-eyed peas and collard greens with ham! It's New Years Day!

[houstonmacbro]

Black-eyed peas and collard greens with ham! It's New Years Day!

Yum!

[editor]

I've never really understood Facebook or Myspace, though. They both seem kind of juvenile and risky if someone were to go Google your name and anything unprofessional come up.

What Google sees of your Facebook is entirely up to you. It has very extensive privacy features so that only the people you want to see you can see you, not complete strangers, potential bosses, etc. I'm not sure, but I don't think MySpace has this.

I like Linkedin because it's intended for professionals, but even then you kind of have to be careful what gets admitted or linked to on the internet. Some people put a link to their party blog right next to their company's homepage and that seems kind of dumb to me.

I'll give LinkedIn a closer look when I get a chance. I just got an e-mail titled "I have a LinkedIn account, now what?" that doesn't actually answer the question it poses.

And as far as Twitter, maybe I am missing something, but what's the point? ("Walking across the street to buy some shoes." tweet tweet "Sitting in the park listening to music." tweet tweet )

With Twitter, like a lot of the social services, you get out of it what you put in. If you subscribe to a flake's feed, then you're going to get flaky tweets. I see it as a potentially powerful business communications tool. It lets you talk to your fans without having to go through the bother of putting out a media release or a formal e-mail. There was an article in the Wall Street Journal in November about how Dell has made millions through its Twitter feed by posting information about special deals on its web site. Those links, naturally, were formed so they could be tracked and Dell could see who was buying based on the tweets and who from the regular web site.

[houstonmacbro]

What Google sees of your Facebook is entirely up to you. It has very extensive privacy features so that only the people you want to see you can see you, not complete strangers, potential bosses, etc. I'm not sure, but I don't think MySpace has this.

I'll give LinkedIn a closer look when I get a chance. I just got an e-mail titled "I have a LinkedIn account, now what?" that doesn't actually answer the question it poses.

With Twitter, like a lot of the social services, you get out of it what you put in. If you subscribe to a flake's feed, then you're going to get flaky tweets. I see it as a potentially powerful business communications tool. It lets you talk to your fans without having to go through the bother of putting out a media release or a formal e-mail. There was an article in the Wall Street Journal in November about how Dell has made millions through its Twitter feed by posting information about special deals on its web site. Those links, naturally, were formed so they could be tracked and Dell could see who was buying based on the tweets and who from the regular web site.

I have a Linked In account but use it only for professional networking. I never really send e-mails or make contact with friends other than adding them to lists.

[memebag]

Re netbooks vs netphones:

I might get a netbook, but just to use around the house. There are times when I'm too lazy to get up from the bed or couch to go look something up that I think, "Hey, lazy ass, a netbook would let you stay here and browse the web." But I can't see lugging one around with me. I don't like lugging anything around with me.

I can wear my BB, and I only think about it when disembarking roller coasters, just to make sure it's still attached. The rest of the time it's just part of my clothes.

The ideal solution would be a mobile browser interfaced with my optic nerve. They could scoop out the part of my brain that remembers how to write in cursive and hide the works in there.

[jmancuso]

I have a 2G iPod touch that I use as my "laptop" and I pretty much only use my laptop when I'm out of town, which is rare.

[houstonmacbro]

I have a 2G iPod touch that I use as my "laptop" and I pretty much only use my laptop when I'm out of town, which is rare.

I'm kinda looking forward to the next-gen iPods and iPhones. I am hearing they might have solar power and also might have another, more powerful chip (not the Atom, but one from the company that Apple purchased last year).

[jm1fd]

But I recently saw an interesting statistic that I fall into: Something like 80% of people pay at least some of their bills online. But only 10% do it through their banks online banking service. The rest go to the web sites of each company they owe money to and pay there. To me, this shows trust in electronic transactions, but a fundamental distrust of banks.

Why would you say it is an issue of distrust rather than, say, an issue of all those companies marketing the hell out of paying bills online to save themselves money? Seems quite silly to me to have to visit umpteen jillion sites to pay all your bills when you can just go to your bank's site (or Quicken or whatever) and manage and view history of everything from one just spot.

[editor]

Why would you say it is an issue of distrust rather than, say, an issue of all those companies marketing the hell out of paying bills online to save themselves money? Seems quite silly to me to have to visit umpteen jillion sites to pay all your bills when you can just go to your bank's site (or Quicken or whatever) and manage and view history of everything from one just spot.

Nobody has umpteen jillion bills to pay. If you do bills once a week you might have one or two to pay. If you do it bi-weekly (as I do), you might have three or four. The total number of bills I pay each month is six. Visiting six web sites over the course of a month isn't exactly a burden, especially when the sites make it so easy to pay. Once I log in, for four of them it's just a matter of two clicks to repeat the previous month's payment.

Perhaps you've had better luck with banks than I have. I've had banks (Wells Fargo, and Washington Mutual) lose deposits for weeks, or take money out of my account "by accident." Yes, in all cases the banks made everything right, but only after I hounded them for weeks (Wamu) or months (Fargo). No consumer should have to do that. I simply don't trust the banks with something that leaves no paper trail, especially since the law was passed a couple of years ago that states that even if your bank screws things up with your checking account you have no legal recourse, only the bank's goodwill. It was part of that law that was passed to make check processing faster.

[memebag]

Nobody has umpteen jillion bills to pay. If you do bills once a week you might have one or two to pay. If you do it bi-weekly (as I do), you might have three or four. The total number of bills I pay each month is six. Visiting six web sites over the course of a month isn't exactly a burden, especially when the sites make it so easy to pay. Once I log in, for four of them it's just a matter of two clicks to repeat the previous month's payment.

Perhaps you've had better luck with banks than I have. I've had banks (Wells Fargo, and Washington Mutual) lose deposits for weeks, or take money out of my account "by accident." Yes, in all cases the banks made everything right, but only after I hounded them for weeks (Wamu) or months (Fargo). No consumer should have to do that. I simply don't trust the banks with something that leaves no paper trail, especially since the law was passed a couple of years ago that states that even if your bank screws things up with your checking account you have no legal recourse, only the bank's goodwill. It was part of that law that was passed to make check processing faster.

Check 21! All hail the Image Replacement Document!

I don't think it's a lack of trust for banks in the general population. I think it's marketing. Banks just aren't pushing their online services as hard as utilities and credit cards. Either way you pay, you still have to trust your bank.

[houstonmacbro]

Check 21! All hail the Image Replacement Document!

I don't think it's a lack of trust for banks in the general population. I think it's marketing. Banks just aren't pushing their online services as hard as utilities and credit cards. Either way you pay, you still have to trust your bank.

I like the fact that I can schedule payments with my bank and they do not hit (come out of my account) until that date. It makes it very convenient to pay. Bank of America is not perfect, but I like their bill payment system.

[memebag]

I like the fact that I can schedule payments with my bank and they do not hit (come out of my account) until that date. It makes it very convenient to pay. Bank of America is not perfect, but I like their bill payment system.

Me, too. I also like not having to remember a different password for each payment destination. I know some folks use the same password at multiple sites, and some folks even let their browser remember it for them, but those are unacceptable risks when real money is involved.

[houstonmacbro]

Me, too. I also like not having to remember a different password for each payment destination. I know some folks use the same password at multiple sites, and some folks even let their browser remember it for them, but those are unacceptable risks when real money is involved.

I used to have the same password for just about everything. But lately I have been mixing it up and keeping a written list of passwords. Dang, hope no one ever looks under my keyboard.

[jm1fd]

Nobody has umpteen jillion bills to pay.

Let's list them all for a typical household....

Cable or Satellite

Landline Phone

Cell phone

(Supposedly the average household has 12.75 credit cards...let's say half have a balance any given month)

Credit Card 1

Credit Card 2

Credit Card 3

Credit Card 4

Credit Card 5

Credit Card 6

Water

Gas

Electricity

Mortgage

Car Payment

Home Insurance

Car Insurance

That's a whole bunch of logins and passwords to have to remember.