Apple Considering Commercializing New iPod Touch EasyPay System?

[KiraDouji]

I do not want businesses to adopt this Apple store business practice. I hate having to hunt someone down to ring me up. I hate seeing three employees with nothing to do, and none of them can check me out.

... Did it ever occur to you to walk up to said store employees and tell them you wanted to check out? In my experience, retail employees tend to gather after walking over the whole floor and asking if someone needs help, only to be gruffly rebuked as if they were offering a rusty knife to your baby. Thus, they pretty much just want to let people shop and wait until they're finished. If they aren't bugging you, chances are they just haven't seen you or can't tell if you're finished or not and don't want to get their heads bit off during the process of finding out.

Sorry if that comes off as a bit of a rant, but after working retail for the past few years of my life, the amount of bitching and moaning some customers make over their own lack of communication/communication skills never ceases to amaze and frustrate me.

 

[backdraft]

Easypay would not only work in the retail, food, and hospitality but for education as well. Checking out books and media from a library, swiping student ID cards to access all sorts of information (not just for book checkout), testing etc... Would reduce lines and improve service!

Tie it in to Sedna presenter a digital signage solution for the mac (which you can use as a concierge app) and you can trigger playlists to show more information about a book/media either by scanning the barcode or using the Sedna presenter control light app.

Things would be really interesting!

I've asked about that becoming commercially available. Never got an answer; all I was told is they're not selling it. I also want to Concierge app.

 

[lesreaper2009]

Why Bother Apple?

Apple doesn't have a chance with this. The Squareup is going to revolutionize the business way before Apple gets there. I wrote a blog article about it here.

When Apple comes out with their tablet, pretty much every business owner I know will switch over. Every fundraising event in the nation will have 2-3 of these AT LEAST. Here in NYC, every street vendor worth his salt will have one, so that adds another 5-10 thousand at least.

Apple can try and corner the market on this, but it will be another half-@!% attempt like the Apple TV. Great idea, but they just won't put the resources in it they need to win.

Squareup will win this game, by a lot.

 

[jrhone]

I do not want businesses to adopt this Apple store business practice. I hate having to hunt someone down to ring me up. I hate seeing three employees with nothing to do, and none of them can check me out.

I would much rather have static cash registers in one place for most days, and bring out the mobile POS devices when a new release has large crowds waiting at the door.

EVERY employee on the floor carries an EasyPay Touch, so how 3 are doing nothing and cant check you out is beyond me. Also EVERY Apple store has at least TWO registers to accept Cash with some manning one CONSTANTLY....just ask. Its a different system, and people get checked out FASTER and wait less. Also there is a greeter at the front door with a radio AND Easy Pay...walk up to them, swipe your card, walk out.

 

[naco]

I wish my employer could adopt something like this. They won't though. And my employer is a BIG company. They had a building named after them and it was a famous building.

1) Because they are too cheap to do something like this. *I have an IBM register from the 1980's*

2) I'm not sure if it will work like our current POS works. We don't go by SKU numbers, we go off of Division and item numbers and that finds the SKU and goes from there. Plus, I also need to be able to setup other info besides just checking out and taking it with. I need delivery, install, ship to store, transfer sales, etc. and all this has calendar dates.

In my mind, the best way to go about this is just to have the iPod as an information relay to a central "brain" so to speak. But, this market has already been filled. Apple was using this BEFORE with their old system. The only way Apple could make their own market with this sort of system is to have it do something that no other system can. My mind comes to an iPhone. Think of a few things EVERY retail store has to use. A computer with a POS system on it, a telephone and a way to access the internet for either internet based sales, or to look up information not provided in a catalog. To which I say would only work on a small scale retail base. No major corporation would adopt such a system for fear that if it went down, the whole network of sales would be down.

I say no market for such a thing except internally (Apple and Disney) because then Apple is the IT department for such a thing. No more outsourcing for that which then brings down annual operation costs.

 

[gikku]

Enterprise customers are beating down Apple’s door to make use of.... an iPod!

We live in strange times.

Even bank's, the amongst the most hardcore Microsoft customers, are starting to use iPod's for branch staff to make appointments in calendars, promote internet banking. Even a half-decent POS solution, for both sides of the retail counter, would revolutionise retail, and banking.

 

[s1m]

knowing apple the biggest failing that it will have will that it will only work with apple computers being the backbone and in the enterprise world and business world apple is kind of well crap in that department.

I would have thought as most iPods are running on iTunes connected to a windows device that Apple have some experience in interfacing their devices to non-apple computers...

 

[citfvpgici]

I accept with information:The EasyPay system is composed of an iPod touch running custom point-of-sale software housed within a hard plastic shell integrating the device with a barcode scanner and magnetic stripe reader, as well as a rechargeable battery to power the auxiliary hardware.

 

[_iCeb0x_]

POS is just one application for this kind of device

Mobile POS is just one of the possible applications for a device like this. Mobile (i.e. "hand held") computers with barcode readers are used mostly everywhere these days.

There are a lot of examples: in the wholesale/distribution and consumer goods markets, they're used for inventory control, picking, receiving, shipping and other warehouse management applications.

In manufacturing, they are used for work-in-progress management.

More and more hospitals are using this kind of equipment for patient care, medication control, etc.

If Apple can provide a rugged version with a high performance barcode reader engine, there are a lot of possibilities.

BUT... companies like Motorola (which acquired Symbol Technologies a couple of years ago), Intermec and Honeywell (which acquired Hand Held Products) have a huge headstart in this business -- over 10 years!

Most of the equipment available today runs Windows CE, which is a PITA to develop for. Cocoa Touch could be a huge differential.

 

[crosstrainer]

Mobile POS is just one of the possible applications for a device like this. Mobile (i.e. "hand held") computers with barcode readers are used mostly everywhere these days.

There are a lot of examples: in the wholesale/distribution and consumer goods markets, they're used for inventory control, picking, receiving, shipping and other warehouse management applications.

In manufacturing, they are used for work-in-progress management.

More and more hospitals are using this kind of equipment for patient care, medication control, etc.

If Apple can provide a rugged version with a high performance barcode reader engine, there are a lot of possibilities.

BUT... companies like Motorola (which acquired Symbol Technologies a couple of years ago), Intermec and Honeywell (which acquired Hand Held Products) have a huge headstart in this business -- over 10 years!

Most of the equipment available today runs Windows CE, which is a PITA to develop for. Cocoa Touch could be a huge differential.

There are a lot of biometric devices these days but the most popular among all these is the thumbprint scanner. It works on the principle behind the biometric system wherein it uses sensors to capture images. In this case, a unique pattern of capillaries just underneath the skin. This can only be seen when blood is running through them. So if a criminal cuts off your finger and uses it on a the scanner, the device will not be able to recognize as the patterns disappear as soon as the blood is cut off. Therefore, the finger or the thumbprint can no longer be used for identification.

 

[charlituna]

Maybe the Microsoft Store could use these.

no way would they use the competitions products. heck I heard that employees with an iphone or an ipod can't bring it inside work.

besides, what do you think apple did with all those old easy pays. shipped them to the microsoft stores of course

also just for fun i asked about the touches pretending like I ran my own shop. they took my info in case at some point a year or two from now they decided to sell the cradle etc they could let me know. but it sounded like there were no plans or timeline. it was more just a move to make folks feel better rather than just saying no way, no how, piss off

Presumably Apple's point-of-sale software would have to be changed a bit to become a more generalized commercial product, but given the demand why wouldn't they jump at the opportunity? Maybe because this type of non-consumer iPhone app just hasn't been in their business plan.

that's no quick thing. their POS is not just a take money system. all their stuff is basically bits of one massive program. POS, inventory, repairs etc.

not to mention that commercializing their software, which was likely custom designed, risks opening it up to exploitation.

more likely they would sell the cradle with an SDK and each business/type of business would have to write their own software.

 

[ccdan]

In this case, a unique pattern of capillaries just underneath the skin. This can only be seen when blood is running through them. So if a criminal cuts off your finger and uses it on a the scanner, the device will not be able to recognize as the patterns disappear as soon as the blood is cut off. Therefore, the finger or the thumbprint can no longer be used for identification.

No thumb scanner has the ability to scan any capillaries and virtually all fingerprint scanning devices ar extremely easy to fool... just watch mythbusters "Crimes and Myth-Demeanors 2" and you'll see what it takes to fool even the most "sophisticated" fingerprinter locks that try to measure skin conductivity and pulse (in order to supposedly "make sure" that it "deals" with real, alive human tissue)

 

[ct2k7]

This has so much potential - I hope it does come out, becuase I'm loving it!