http://blog.princehonest.com/Amir Sadoughi's thoughts and ideas.enWed, 27 Aug 2014 23:21:25 GMThttp://getnikola.com/http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rsshttp://blog.princehonest.com/posts/why-mobile-is-broken-for-me.htmlAmir Sadoughi<p>Today I walk around with me three things on my person: a wallet, a smartphone, and a set of keys. Why can't these three things all be the same device? In addition, I pay to carry a mobile hotspot around as a separate device sometimes. Why can't I use my phone as a mobile hotspot regularly with real unlimited data? The former problem is an innovation problem. The latter is a service problem.</p> <div class="section" id="a-virtual-keyring"> <h2>A Virtual Keyring</h2> <p>Sure, by now, you have heard of Lockitron, August, or similar technologies built around the home keyhole. Last time I checked, I have more keys on my keyring than just my apartment key.</p> <p>I also have a car key and a postbox key. For the car, companies like Viper have come up with an app that can lock and unlock your car over a cellular network. This does not seem like the future I want. How hard would it be to emulate a key fob radio physically in a phone? Could phones have software-defined radios?</p> <p>Secondly, with the postbox key, granted, I live in an apartment so most homeowners probably don't have a postbox key. I could also do without physical mail if I signed up for a service like Outbox, but that comes with its own set of problems.</p> <p>A keyring should be an app on my phone, that's all I am saying.</p> </div> <div class="section" id="a-mobile-wallet"> <h2>A Mobile Wallet</h2> <p>Next, for the wallet, I carry membership cards, gift cards, debit/credit cards, ID cards, and sometimes cash. Credit cards are already being eaten away by the likes of ISIS and Square. Insurance cards and membership cards I probably could store as photos assuming the vendor allows me to type in the ID number. Some member cards, like Starbucks, are already pure digital apps.</p> <p>The biggest obstacle that I'm not aware of being solved any time soon is the digitalization of ID cards. Effectively, the government would have to rely on a certain level of security and ubiquity to allow for digital IDs. While it might introduce new problems, the problem of fake IDs as it exists now could be eradicated.</p> </div> <div class="section" id="mobile-internet-service"> <h2>Mobile Internet Service</h2> <p>So, now I have my wallet and keyring in my phone, what's next? Well, how about Internet service? Do you have a landline or wireless service? I currently carry wireless service through Clear. Clear operates over Sprint's networks. So, why can't I have my phone operate as an unlimited data mobile hotspot on Sprint if I can already do that by carrying around an extra hotspot? It doesn't make sense to me.</p> <hr class="docutils"> <p>These are all small, solvable modern problems. A decade from now I look forward to this technology becoming obsolete. We'll see where we're headed next then.</p> </div>futuremobilehttp://blog.princehonest.com/posts/why-mobile-is-broken-for-me.htmlSun, 23 Jun 2013 05:08:18 GMThttp://blog.princehonest.com/posts/hello-world.htmlAmir Sadoughi<p>This is my first post on Nikola!</p>metahttp://blog.princehonest.com/posts/hello-world.htmlSun, 23 Jun 2013 03:31:45 GMT