Excessive hype does promising products no favors
[...] on Wednesday I had a conversation with Lucas Duplan, founder of mystery payment company Clinkle, that ended up proving a model (but by no means the only one) for the deafening levels of managed hype across much of Silicon Valley.
The idea here seems to be that the star power of celebrity investors should be enough to have consumers champing at the bit to get on Clinkle's waiting list and placate the concerns about the app penetrating a ridiculously crowded and complicated market.
The rest of the gadget universe exhibits similar PR strategies, to the degree that being tight-lipped is usually inversely proportional to their market share.
Very clearly, software on our phones would be a far more efficient way to manage transactions than a collection of paper and plastic cards wrapped in leather and cloth.
[...] Clinkle joins Google Wallet, Square Wallet, PayPal, Visa, Venmo, LevelUp, PayByPhone, Bump, ING Direct and even apps specific to businesses like TGI Fridays and Starbucks, which are all trying to become your go-to when exchanging currency with a friend or merchant.
[...] payment apps must also consider the monumental challenge of how they'll work with - change? - the existing payment infrastructure found around cash registers and credit card processors at stores, restaurants and other merchants across the country.
[...] I followed up by asking how Clinkle will do it.