[dminor]

I have to admit when Square first came out I didn't see what the big deal was. A little doohickey to plug into your iPhone to swipe cards - sure, sounds useful for certain merchants, but not something world-changing.

It's cool to see that there's a larger plan unfolding. Credit card networks are tough nuts to crack and it looks like they've found a way. Kudos.

[listrophy]

The mind-blowing thing, I see, is that—with that little doohickey—Square has single-handedly broken bistromathics[1]. And yes, you can take this comment as a joke, or you can take it seriously.

[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bistromathics#Bistromathic_driv...

[mechanical_fish]

Holy cow, Square is going to have all the pieces to build the ultimate restaurant-bill-splitting application of our dreams.

Card Case doesn't happen to have an API, does it? ;)

[pbreit]

Do people really dream of such a thing? Some at PayPal thought bill-splitting would amount to something which was of course foolish.

The difficulty and hence lucrativeness of financial transactions depends on size, distance and familiarity. A large transaction across the world between two strangers is the riskiest/hardest/most expensive. A small transaction face-to-face amongst friends is the opposite.