How many passwords do you have? I’m guessing, quite a few… you’ve probably got a few different ones as well – one for twitter, one for facebook, another one for your emails, and maybe a few more for all the other apps you got on your tablet or phone.
I’m guessing you probably struggle to remember them all as well?
Well – good news. You may not need to remember them all.
How’s that Bal?
Well.. if you’ve got a fairly modern phone, chances are you probably use your finger or face to unlock it.
It’s all called ‘biometrics’.
It’s going to be the way we ‘unlock’ things in the future.
In fact – it’s happening now!
But what is Biometrics? – Biometrics is the technical term for body measurements and calculations. It refers to metrics related to human characteristics. Biometrics authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control.
Is that the official statement, Bal?
Yes it is! – what is basically means is – when the camera looks at your finger or face, it takes a number of measurements and then saves these and destroys the original image.
These measurements and calculations are used every time you unlock something… Basically, the information (measurements) which are stored, can be accessed later for comparison with “live” information!
So by having these biometric data – you won’t need to remember passwords!
It’s happening more and more – where you can use your finger or face – to be recognized – and to make payments… may be we could use biometric data one day to vote!
You may or may not remember – I spoke a while ago about how Sainsbury’s were working on an app – on which you can scan items and then pay for them!
Guess what – they’ve now got it across the Holborn Circus Store in London on a three month pilot!
That’s right – Sainsbury’s has launched the UK’s first till-free grocery store at the central London branch, which allows shoppers to pay with their phone and then walk out of the shop without going through a checkout.
Customers use the app to scan groceries as they walk round the store, bag them and then pay in the app, scanning a code to confirm payment.
Now, where have I heard about this concept before Bal?
Amazon are doing it…
For us Brits – especially at Sainsbury’s – more than 80% of payments were cashless (honestly, I thought it would’ve been higher!)
Now this pilot – involves a revamped store to cater for the ‘food to go’ people. Alcohol and tobacco have been removed because it takes ‘time’ – and by that, I mean ‘people time’ to verify the age of the person buying it. I’m sure in due course, there’ll be verification steps within the app to allow this… and maybe a shelf locked with a pin code to allow access.
So what’s the feedback?
A beaming lady declared the system “easy to use and a complete timesaver” – and the overall feedback has been positive.
Well, first and foremost – I hope you all had a great Easter break.
Now, I appreciate, I have many readers from around the World, and not everyone celebrates Easter – but I’m living in England and we do.
Whilst on the whole, it was thoroughly enjoyable with the hot weather… there was one small problem I found… .that I’d have a million emails when I log back in when I’m back at work.
Now… being honest, we’re never away from work – are we? – we’re always connected. Mobile phone in hand… we will receive notifications of when we get an email (Yes – I do turn my notifications off whilst I’m on ‘holiday’)
However – you do see the number next to the icon (if you’re on iOS) just increasing all the time.
But can we move away from Email… the answer is Yes!
How’s that Bal?
Well… some people are saying, that email is dead. Technically, and if you ask me – it’s not dead… but is dying.
Because we have so many other ways to communicate.
WhatsApp for example.
It’s quicker. It’s easier. You can have groups. You can send attachments….
There’s so much going for WhatsApp – that it makes a variable alternative.
But there’s not only WhatsApp – there’s other tools as well…. for example Slack.
I do like Slack. You can create channels – have people invited to collaborate on certain topics… share files (attachments), and do so much more.
Then there’s other tools based around projects, based around events, etc…
So that’s why, I think email is dying…. we haven’t got the attention span – well, I say we, it’s these young folk! – Millenials have an attention span of 12 seconds!
It’s even disappointing with the Gen Z…. 8 seconds.
On Tuesday – I had the day off (I know, right? – I actually put an Out Of Office on and took a day off!) – so, Tuesday…I decided to go to Ikea.
Now, many of you who go Ikea – will know, doesn’t matter what you aim to do – if it’s just looking, or you’ve done your research and know exactly what you want, you’ll always end up buying something that you think later… do I really need it?
So why does Ikea do this? – (and this blog post idea was created by my friend Raj, who mentioned the below….)
Well… so during my visit on Tuesday, I did wonder, a) what will I end up buying and b) there must be some science behind it!
Now, before I even entered the store – I knew what I wanted. I knew the exact items, etc… however, yes – like most folk, somehow… I’d ended up at the cashier till with not only the items I wanted to buy originally but some other nice ‘additions’ in the basket.
Now… couple of reasons when I did some research and looked into this…
Children – or shall I say, ‘children-less’. That’s right, Ikea have Smaland – a place where you can leave the kids to be entertained and you go off to enjoy Ikea without the nagging, shouting, fighting… and ultimately thinking ‘hope my kid doesn’t break that’.
Windows – Now, I’d heard about this previously – but it is kind of true! – There aren’t many windows once you are in the realm of Ikea. This means, you are isolated some-what in the Ikea World, and have no idea what time it is (obviously you can check your watch)… clocks on the wall don’t tell the real time – so being honest, you can literally spend hours…and hours…. and hours….
List – I always thought it’s very kind of Ikea to provide you with pencils and the measuring guide…. oh, and the paper list (to write down what you want). Yep – there’s science behind that, once you write down what you want or thinking to get – you’re kind of making a commitment to purchase it. You’ll only write things down you want – and if you’re in two minds – chances are, once you’re written it – it’ll be in the back of your car in no time.
Mix – I love it, that I’ll be walking looking at beds, and all of a sudden… I see an extension cable. Why would I need an extension cable? – maybe because I can plug several things that need charging overnight near my bed? – oh look… this bed side table I was looking at, can store everything I want an on top, there’s space for my mobile phone… Do I have enough sockets… I think I should buy one to give me that flexibility. And there you go – there was a reason I picked up that blue/yellow bag at the front of the store – to pick up little items that might make my life easier.
I think I could write a book about this – in fact, I’m sure someone has already!
The other final note was – Ikea Family. Not clubcard, not Nectar points, not anything like that… not even loyalty card… but Ikea Family card. That’s right, You’re part of the family. And family support each other.
So, there you go… so much we can learn from Ikea to incorporate into our organisations, into our companies and places of work…
… and yes, I didn’t even mention the hot dogs. That’s a whole blog post on it’s own!
You may have heard in the news recently, that Which? Review found Amazon to be flooded with fake ‘five star reviews’.
Let’s be honest – are we really surprised?
You may recall – TripAdvisor, and the ‘fake top restaurant’. It’s happening around us – and it’s all too common.
Sellers want to be the best. And there’s easy ways to become one of the top – one of the best – one of the trusted. By reviews.
And anyone – can go online, and share a review. Which? Report found thousands of unverified reviews. Many where sent in a short space of time (meaning they most probably are computer generated).
They said – we should take reviews with a ‘pinch of salt’.
I appreciate it’s going to be harder to realize – what’s fake and what’s real.
They also said – ‘Look to independent and trustworthy sources when researching a product’.
Bal, what do you suggest?
Well…. couple of things;
Use the old traditional method of talking to friends and family – or your social network (and listen to those whom you trust).
When researching, look at a variety of reviews – not just a few. Look for reviews from other sites, other places – and see if they’re exactly the same – or there is variation.
Take your time – often we think, it’s a good deal… don’t want to miss out. Obviously depends on how much money you’re spending but take your time – investigate properly on what you’re buying and then make a well educated decision.
There’s more and more fake reviews, videos, etc… appearing and they don’t help us when we’re buying or looking at something.
Yes, some platforms are tackling this – but it’ll take time.
So when you come to buy something on Amazon and are reading the reviews – make sure you read all the reviews, look at known or reputable brands, and finally- read the returns policy!
