eBay just announced that they’re going to buy a new company. That company is Braintree, and eBay is going to pay $800 million for them.
Braintree will integrate with PayPal as each complements the other. But as the parent company it’s eBay forking out the cash.
What it really means though is something far bigger than you might realise. Importantly, this is another piece of the puzzle that signals the beginning of the end for money as we know it.
If you’re unaware, Braintree is a mobile payments company. Developers and programmers use Braintree in their apps, programs and software. Braintree lets them take and manage payments, much like PayPal does.
Braintree is a fast growing, innovative company. In fact there’s a very good chance you’ve already used Braintree and didn’t even know.
You may have also heard of AirBnB, Uber or LivingSocial. If you have you’ll know these are all fast growing start-up companies. Each one is shaking up their industry; hotels, taxis and shopping respectively.
A payment made through the app of AirBnB, Uber or LivingSocial runs through the Braintree system. As a result Braintree take a clip of every payment to make their money. In short Braintree makes it easy for developers and programmers to get paid.
This buyout of Braintree has a big impact on the future of money. How? Because the takeover coincides near perfectly with an under-the-radar rollout of a new Facebook product this week.
Facebook have released a new payment method called ‘Autofill with Facebook’. What Autofill does is automatically fill in card details when you’re making mobile payments.
A good example would be, you’re on your way to work surfing the web on your phone, or tablet. You spot a great shirt at a great price in an online store. You add the shirt to your checkout basket and click ‘buy’.
Usually at this point you have to pull out your wallet and fumble around with your credit card. You’re trying to put in details of your credit card in front of a packed train on your 4-inch smartphone screen. It’s a nightmare, and you’re likely to either give up or just simply be unable to make the purchase.
But with ‘Autofill With Facebook’ at the buy screen, one single button appears. It says ‘Autofill with Facebook’. You tap it, it populates the payment screen, and you’re done. That’s it. Simple, easy, no cards, no cash, just tap, tap, buy.
It’s possible because Facebook has your card details stored on its platform. It has them because you made an in-app purchase or might have bought a Facebook Gift previously.
Where this gets really interesting is that ‘Autofill with Facebook’ sits on top of the Braintree API with relative ease. Autofill will also work very soon with PayPal…who now own Braintree. Essentially Facebook is working with eBay (PayPal) to make mobile payments quick and easy. Facebook is getting into banking.
The shape of global payments is changing. The current state of world economies is shaky at best. Companies like Facebook, Google, and Amazon are dipping their toes into payments, financial services and money. It’s the perfect storm for a complete revolution in the global financial system.
We’ve said for some time that what you think about money is going to be very different in five to ten years time. It’s all beginning right now. This is just the beginning. There is a shift underway, and there will be opportunities to make money from it…while money still exists.
When it comes to making people’s lives better you can’t fault innovative and pioneering doctors. As weird as some of the treatments might sound you have to consider one thing when you hear about it.
And that is the outcome for the patient. These weird approaches to treatment often result in a return to normal living, something many of us take for granted day to day. It’s impossible to imagine what some of these patients go through not just physically but mentally and emotionally.
That makes it all the more important when technology plays its part to rebuild the lives of these people.
In China at a Hospital in Fuzhou, Fujian Provence medical technology has gone to a new level. As reported by the BBC, doctors are growing a new nose on the forehead of a patient.
The man had severe nasal disfigurement after a traffic accident in August last year. Doctors couldn’t initially save his nose or rebuild what was left. So they decided the best form of treatment was to grow a new one.
The doctors have been able to use modern medicine to grow a perfect nose with the man’s forehead skin and cartilage from his ribs. Soon the nose will be fully-grown and they will simply transplant it back onto the correct part of his face.
I’ll save you the bizarreness of the picture, but should you wish to see it, click here.
There’s no limit to what medicine can do with the aid of technology and innovation. Growing a nose on a man’s head is the tip of the iceberg. Medicine and technology have the ability cure the incurable, regenerate our own slowly ageing organs and ultimately help us live longer and healthier lives.
Solar is no doubt the most important renewable energy source on earth, until we can sort out fusion power. And more solar farms are coming online every year. Harnessing the power of the sun is crucial to weaning ourselves off the fossil fuel dependence we’ve had for so long.
One of the most sun-drenched places on earth is the Mojave Desert in California. Therefore it comes as no great surprise to see the world’s largest solar power plant under construction smack bang in the middle of the Mojave.
Although most of the plant is still under construction some of it is complete. And on Tuesday, Unit 1 had its first “sync” to the power grid and produced power.
The plant, Ivanpah, is 3,500 acres in size, produces 377MW, can serve 140,000 homes annually and lists Google as one of its key equity investors.
It’s really a no brainer that if you’ve got a lot of space where it’s really sunny, you’d put down some solar plants like Ivanpah.
It’s somewhat baffling to think that as a country the best Australia can dish up is an under construction plant near Mildura with a peak output of 154MW.
Australia only has the 4th, 7th, 10th and 11th largest subtropical deserts in the world. I mean surely that’s as good a reason as any to plonk down as many solar farms as possible?
The Mildura plant is a good start. But as the world’s 11th biggest producer of carbon dioxide emissions per capita, you’d think our government would do more.
Sadly an election has just gone. It was a wasted opportunity for a leader with foresight to assume responsibility for the future of the country. Australia has got the ability to make a real mark on the way the world moves forward from a technology and energy perspective.
Sadly Australia’s sitting on its hands. It’s no fault of people like you and I, but because of the sheer ineptitude of our so-called leaders.
At least we still have private industry that might just pull out a trump card and push on with creating a solar country. Maybe with any luck we’ll slowly work our way down that list of carbon producers and give our country a cleaner and greener global image.
Sam Volkering+
Technology Analyst, Revolutionary Tech Investor
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