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by Mz
4817 days ago
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I feel like I don't really know enough about this to speculate. I think both articles (this one and the one it links to which argues the opposite) both have some good points. But I get the impression that, like me, neither author really knows this space well enough to draw good conclusions. I like the data point (from the baptiste piece) that offline commerce is still 95% of spending, thus it is a 19x larger market than e-commerce. I think the point in the shah piece about "I didn't even want a pastry" is also good. But to me it doesn't really argue that this is a failure. To me, it argues that this is a first step which, like all first steps, will need to be followed up with refinement of their monetization strategy. I have a certificate in GIS. I live without a car and have some other issues. I have been thinking here lately about my frustrations with using the internet to try to find stuff in the real world. In many ways, the internet has been a godsend in that regard. But in other ways it has been pretty crazymaking. I asked a bit about this elsewhere recently. It didn't really result in some huge epiphany that I am just doing it wrong. It resulted in me concluding that this intersection of the web and the real world is just not that well done yet. So I think Four Square is breaking new ground. Yes, that's always risky. But I am guessing they understand this space better than the hn equivalent of a few "armchair politicians" looking on from the outside. (My dad had a brilliant solution for every social ill ever. And was happy to share his wisdom while watching game shows and eating peanuts and doing not a damn thing about any of them. So, erm, I learned long ago that "talk is cheap.") |
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Very true, I still think they are on the verge of something (whether they are it or not is another question left up to the internet). I think it would be pretty cool if they worked with the stores to create an personalized interactive experience for the user. Checkins would be the first step, but after that, they could try to gamify the space/store/shop that took very little effort from the stores part, but also give reasons for users to go to stores beyond "you can buy this".