You want an Apple iPad, you better not pay by cash

PerfectCreature

Wow. That's kind of rediculous. Pretty soon I guess they will be phasing out money for good.
No more...."No cash no carry"
Heh.
Wow is the world getting messed up.

SolidSqual

Danny Tse wrote: »

Can Apple legally forbid you from selling an item you purchased?

No, but they don't have to make it easy either. Tons of companies limit customer purchases based on legal tender or number from electronics to clothing.

SolidSqual

Face wrote: »

This is exactly true. I love apple. They are a capitalistic beast. Tell customers they don't need it until there's a way to commercialize the product and market it. The most current example in the audio world is HiRez downloads. Right now apple says there's no difference, but once they finish hammering out contracts with music companies later next year. We all will be convinced how much we need HiRez downloads. Awesome.

shack

PerfectCreature wrote:

Wow. That's kind of rediculous. Pretty soon I guess they will be phasing out money for good.
No more...."No cash no carry"
Heh.
Wow is the world getting messed up.

Not really. I did a thesis back in college in the mid 70's about the possiblity of a cashless/paperless monetary system and the pros and cons. There were mechanisms in place even then to implement and facilitate such a process. At that time, even though the numbers of cash transactions were significant...it was only a small fraction of the total monetary value of all tranactions. Now cash transactions are only a fraction of the total and even a smaller percentage of in terms of total value. Coins are especially redundant. It costs more to produce many coins than their actual monetary value. ie: pennies, nickles and dimes. The cost of processing cash and checks at some point will render those transactions "too costly" for merchants and financial institutions to continue. There will come a time when any sort of monetary transaction will be electronic/digital...totally without coin cash or checks. Hard to say exactly when...but it will happen...just a matter of time. In fact we are not too far away from it now.

F1nut

Kinda hard to pay the neighborhood kid running a lemonade stand with a debit card. How would one tip for services, etc.?

IMO, a cashless/checkless society would be an absolute disaster on many levels.

mmadden28

According to the Apple Retail Store Policy:

iPad Sales Policies
...
iPad purchases are limited to 2 per customer and must be purchased with a Credit Card or Debit Card only.

Seems to me that if it's the bad guys that are looking to resell the iPads, then it probably wouldn't be to much of a stretch for those same bad guys to establish a bank account (with a false identity) or something similar to get a debit card that Apple would accept


Then again, if you look at Apple's Apple Gift Card Policy:

Apple Gift Cards take the guesswork out of giving a gift. Your friends and family can choose exactly what they want from our huge collection of Mac, iPad, iPod, and accessory items at any Apple Store in the U.S. — online, by phone, or at an Apple Retail Store....

The only exlusions listed are:

...You cannot use Apple Gift Cards to purchase another Apple Gift Card, an iTunes Gift Certificate, or for purchases at the iTunes Store.

Kinda looks like the two policies conflict with each other huh? Well the way I see it, it's pretty clearly stated that you can use an Apple gift card to purchase an iPad.
And I'm sure if somebody was crafty enough they could find some way to buy an Apple Gift card with some form of non-traceable funding source.

mmadden28

F1nut wrote: »

Kinda hard to pay the neighborhood kid running a lemonade stand with a debit card. How would one tip for services, etc.?

IMO, a cashless/checkless society would be an absolute disaster on many levels.

I agree.

How would you tip the valet? Or give spare change to a homeless guy? Or a local craigslist buy? Or a flea market? Or a yard sale?(I'm sure we could find many examples).
Besides how would the drug lords, illegal gun dealers, pimps, mob casino skimmers, etc, etc. survive? I'll bet there is enough corruption in the world that the laws would probably never happen.

Interestingly enough, it was only a few years ago, I want to say 4 or 5, that a local Burger king wasn't yet accepting debit/credit cards for purchases. I thought how far behind the times can they be? I can understand a small pizza joint or something not taking credit because of the extra fees involved, but BK?

I myself very rarely use cash anymore, but I do every so often and I can't imagine there not being a place for it. Just last week I saw news about the of talk of ending penny production. I recall they est. it cost about 1.67 cents to make each penny. I'm OK with that, assuming the existing pennies stay in circulation or perhaps, just not mint coins every year, maybe every few years.

mmadden28

Lasareath wrote: »

Eventually it will probablly be exactly how they do it in StarTrek with a finger print.

You hold out your Smart Phone and the screen will scan the buyer's thumb print and the monies will be directly deposited into your checking acct.

I can see that happening in the next 20 years for sure.

Maybe it wont be a thumb print, It may be read from an implant that's in your hand that you just wave over the PDA or cash register in a store.

I guess that's assuming that every citizen (even the homeless) has one of these devices and has a bank account of sorts.

mmadden28

shack wrote: »

...The cost of processing cash and checks at some point will render those transactions "too costly" for merchants and financial institutions to continue. There will come a time when any sort of monetary transaction will be electronic/digital...totally without coin cash or checks....

While I can understand the handling of cash can be an administrative burden (not to mention risk of theft), they already started the process to reduce the costs of check handling with the fairly recent Check 21 Act, where checks are no longer mailed between institutions but handled electronically, and you no longer even get the cancelled check copy back.

Of course it still bothers me, like many electronic advances like EZPass, etc., the following statement:

Although the act greatly reduces check processing cost for banks (in part, by eliminating the need for the costly transportation of physical checks), and speeds up the fund transfers, these benefits are not necessarily passed on to the consumers.

comfortablycurt

F1nut wrote: »

Kinda hard to pay the neighborhood kid running a lemonade stand with a debit card. How would one tip for services, etc.?

IMO, a cashless/checkless society would be an absolute disaster on many levels.

That's exactly it. There are many services where it would be entirely impractical to use credit/debit.

You mentioned the lemonade stand situation. So...now these 6 year old kids have to learn how to operate a credit/debit card machine to sell their lemonade? Right...that's real practical.



There are still PLENTY of people out there that don't even have credit cards, and plenty that don't even have a desire to have a credit card.

Personally, I don't have any credit cards, and have absolutely NO desire to EVER have one. I don't even have a bank account anymore for that matter.

So apparently I'm not considered to be "good enough" to own an Apple iPad.:rolleyes: This makes me want to sell the iPod I got a while back...seriously. Anyone want an 8gig iPod Touch? I don't want anything from a company that refuses to accept cash as payment.

F1nut

these benefits are not necessarily passed on to the consumers.

Nor were they ever designed to benefit the consumer. The same applies to a cashless/checkless society.....it's not for you and me, it's for business and the Gov't, especially the Gov't. Everything you buy or sell will be tracked! I can't speak for the rest of you, but I want no parts of that BS!

Jstas

shack wrote: »

No...because the majority of the users of tech gadgets are used to NOT using cash. Electronic banking, etc. but not cash or checks.

I promise you that the majority of people I know who wish to own the latest and greatest Mac gadget are still paying off the last latest and greatest Mac gadget on their high interest Visa card.

bobman1235

Is there anything to stop someone from getting one of those Simon Mall prepaid Visas or something?

shack

Jstas wrote:

I promise you that the majority of people I know who wish to own the latest and greatest Mac gadget are still paying off the last latest and greatest Mac gadget on their high interest Visa card.

I didn't say they were FINANCING the purchase with plastic...I said they were using plastic to purchase it...shich includes debit cards and credit cards.

shack

F1nut wrote:

Kinda hard to pay the neighborhood kid running a lemonade stand with a debit card. How would one tip for services, etc.?

IMO, a cashless/checkless society would be an absolute disaster on many levels.

I have lived in a suburban area for many years and I can't tell you the last time I saw a kid selling lemonade.

Like I said...whether you like it or not...it will be a reality sooner or later.

mmadden28 wrote:

While I can understand the handling of cash can be an administrative burden (not to mention risk of theft), they already started the process to reduce the costs of check handling with the fairly recent Check 21 Act, where checks are no longer mailed between institutions but handled electronically, and you no longer even get the cancelled check copy back.

The cost of dealing with hand written checks is still extremely high. Every check is still processed individually once it gets into the banking system (this does not include checks that are scanned at the merchant). If the merchant is not scanning checks, they are handled a minimum 2-3 times once the check leaves the customers hand at the point of sale and then at least 2 times at the bank before it gets to the individual encoding...to then be read by the electronic systems. This is assuming there are no errors on the item. If the check is a problem (ie: insufficient funds, forgery, improper endorsement, etc) the individual processing gets even more cumbersome. Compare this to a credit/debit transaction that is 100% computerized at the time of the transaction.

Cash/coin has its own issues and is just as costly.

There may still be ways to make small payments in the future (maybe beads and shells)...but cash and checks to facilitate transactions WILL cease to be an option at some point in time.

nooshinjohn

Lasareath wrote: »

Eventually it will probablly be exactly how they do it in StarTrek with a finger print.

You hold out your Smart Phone and the screen will scan the buyer's thumb print and the monies will be directly deposited into your checking acct.

I can see that happening in the next 20 years for sure.

Maybe it wont be a thumb print, It may be read from an implant that's in your hand that you just wave over the PDA or cash register in a store.

"He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, freeman and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no-one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. This calls for wisdom, if anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person and it's number is 666."


...from the Book of Relevation

Apple is Satan.:eek::D:p;)

bobman1235

I would bet big money that a cashless society will NOT be a reality anytime in any of our lifetimes.

I know you're a smart dude, shack, especially in the matters of finance, but we're just WAY to disorganized as a society to ever get something like that through everything it needs to go through. Not to mention all of the professional protesters out there that would never stop bitching about it. It just ain't gonna happen.

We can't even get our nation to use the metric system, let alone the credit system

bruss

Couldnt she just go to best buy.. they take cash, charge, blood and children

exalted512

Have to agree with Bobman, we cant even switch over to the metric system...cashless society? Cant say I see it happening soon.
-Cody

Demiurge

I'm always amazed at the level of anger over a product that someone doesn't want/like or that's being sold by a company you don't like.

I don't want an iPad and I don't really care if Apple made people pay in bottle caps. I'm sure they have a reason for their decision. You don't cut off a popular forms of payment for a product or service unless you have a reason for doing so. There are many companies that won't accept personal checks for reasons related to fraud, do you guys go all monkey **** crazy about that?

This only serves to stifle their sales. You Apple haters should love this.

tonyb

F1nut wrote: »

Nor were they ever designed to benefit the consumer. The same applies to a cashless/checkless society.....it's not for you and me, it's for business and the Gov't, especially the Gov't. Everything you buy or sell will be tracked! I can't speak for the rest of you, but I want no parts of that BS!

Bingo....agreed.

shack

bobman1235 wrote: »

I would bet big money that a cashless society will NOT be a reality anytime in any of our lifetimes.

I know you're a smart dude, shack, especially in the matters of finance, but we're just WAY to disorganized as a society to ever get something like that through everything it needs to go through. Not to mention all of the professional protesters out there that would never stop bitching about it. It just ain't gonna happen.

We can't even get our nation to use the metric system, let alone the credit system

It may not happen in MY lifetime...but I would be willing to bet by 2035 (25 years or less) cash will be gone for 99% of all transactions and checks MUCH sooner (maybe in 10 years or so).

Metric has nothing to do with the monetary system. While I think paper and coin will go away...I don't think there will be a world wide universal monetary unit of measure.

bobman1235

The metric thing was just an illustration of the American reluctance to change.

Jstas

The metric system is the tool of the devil! My car gets 40 rods to the hogshead and that's the ways I likes it!

Amherst

shack wrote: »

Just because someone doesn't like them or their methods, doesn't mean they are a bad company. Jobs deserves everything he has IMO...he built a VERY sucessful company that tends to have huge brand loyalty and makes a lot of money.

Yes successful company, then turns around and thumbs his nose at the system of the country that made him all of his money.. Hmmm.

tonyb

I say we all go back to stuffin' cash under the mattress....worked for many years.

shack

Amherst wrote:

Yes successful company, then turns around and thumbs his nose at the system of the country that made him all of his money.. Hmmm.

Exactly what "system" is that? He'll take your money...they are just limiting the form of the transaction for a specific item. Not really any different than a retailer refusing to take checks, refusing to take bills in denominations over $20, refusing to take credit card transactions less than $25 (or whatever arbitrary amount), etc. It happens ALL THE TIME.

Jstas

Driver carries less than $20 cash at all times.

Jstas

I blame you, friend!

Amherst

shack wrote: »

Exactly what "system" is that? He'll take your money...they are just limiting the form of the transaction for a specific item. Not really any different than a retailer refusing to take checks, refusing to take bills in denominations over $20, refusing to take credit card transactions less than $25 (or whatever arbitrary amount), etc. It happens ALL THE TIME.

Isn't the transfer of cash a "system" of payment for goods and services in this country?

I also avoid the local stores that refuse to make change for a $50/$100 bill for these reasons....un-American in IMHO.

Credit card transactions are different as the retailer is charged for the transaction, hence the minimum.