Bye, bye, Revolution Money!

American Express just announced they are buying it for not much more than what has been invested in it. There has been so much smoke and mirrors about this company, for anyone that actually knows what they are talking about, it at least has provided some entertainment value. If American Express cannot figure out how to copy anything of value that this company had (and if anyone can explain to me what that was) for a lot less than $300M, it is a pretty bad situation.

PayPhrase?

I am sure I am missing something about this new feature from Amazon. I was really looking forward to having yet another Username/Password to remember (not!). I guess by calling it a PayPhrase, we are not supposed to realize it is just another Username. I only have about 100 others. When I saw the release, I immediately went and signed up presuming that perhaps this was something genuinely new and different. Alas, it was not.

With GoogleCheckout heading toward oblivion and PayPal seemingly unstoppable, I realize that desperation can drive other copycats to try and force innovation, but this one really seems like a very long stretch.

If anyone understands what this is supposed to accomplish and can explain it to me, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks!!!