Category: Tech

FB messenger bots and payments

~ michael_msft ~ Leave a comment

https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/12/messenger-bot-payments/

It was inevitable that this was going to happen – FB would connect their payment engine to the bots. I am curious what the fine print is here since now you essentially have an App Store within the android/Apple ecosystem that gives you payments from within messenger or the bot. 

I assume that the iOS payment rules cascade down in this case since Apple doesn’t allow for a virtual or subscription item to be paid for outside of the Apple payment ecosystem. Curious how all this will be policed since I imagine folks are already trying to figure out how to take advantage of it?

For physical goods Apple will allow you to connect credit cards and other payment systems in but for virtual stuff that is not allowed. Seems this is all a slippery slope given that the app within the ecosystem now becomes another full fledged ecosystem in and of itself. At some point these hyper controlled app ecosystem rules will be hard to police.

What is super interesting is how FB just increased their revenue base overnight with one swoop since now you can buy a FB news feed ad to point to your bot:

In an effort to show Facebook’s commitment to its platform for bots, Marcus announced that all types of News Feed ads can point to them and users can share bots they enjoy with their friends. And instead of forcing all bot interactions to happen through text, developers can now build web views into conversations to pull in interfaces from their websites. This way you could scroll a list of flights, consume different types of media, or even play basic games while still in the chat window.

Been talking to other folks about explaining the bot gold rush will be no different than the app gold rush when it comes to how to get noticed – you will have to pay FB to get placement or use ads to point people to your bot. This is not some new free land grab opportunity – this will be like every other new platform. Pay to play. Yes – new business models will emerge but one will have to figure out how to rise above the other bots and get customers.

Obviously this is a new frontier but I see the app stores becoming bot stores as pretty apparent.

Is Facebook messenger going to be the main, dominate cross platform bot economy?

Where to find the best coders?

~ michael_msft ~ Leave a comment

I thought this article was pretty interesting but not sure if the sample size is big enough to really declare winners but interesting to see the country breakdown.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/08/30/who-would-win-the-coding-olympics/

China and Russia at the top but also cool to see Singapore come in at #13.

People always ask if there is talent outside of the USA or the known ecosystems of record and I always say that there are but that things like culture, experience and supporting cast members have a lot to do with success as well. Hard to rival Silicon Valley or the USA ecosystem in general due to some of those factors and the shear size of the market but you can’t ignore Asia.

Impossible.

I tend to have always thought the raw coding skills in Asia are as good as the USA but the experience of working for large tech firms on global products is lacking but that is improving with time and the presence of companies like Google who are beginning to build product in the region.

Good time to be in Asia.

Thailand and Apple musings…

~ michael_msft ~ Leave a comment

I am sitting in the newly remodeled Don Muang airport and using an unlimited WIFI pack. Which I bought for 39 baht to get unmetered WIFI till midnight. For all of you penny pinchers out there – that is like 1.12 USD. Pretty decent in my opinion. I have been using 4g for the past week for 99 baht. Been getting good speeds but that has 2GB cap for 7 days of usage. That’s 2.84 USD. For a whole week of 4g but of course I used it up and added 400 MB for 15 baht. That’s .43 USD. 

Crazy the competition in wireless data and how easy it is to get it and top it up.

This week I paid for our truck insurance but this was after realizing that we don’t have the bill for it. So my wife called the insurance company who then sent her 1 SMS with a number in it we took to 7/11. Paid the bill and the 15 baht convienence fee for paying at the ATM. The services one can pay for at 7/11 or other convienence stores is cool.

It is always interesting to me the fintech stuff that pops up in rural Thialand when credit cards are not the thing and cash is king. Not sure if this type of stuff will flourish more or if credit cards start to take over but given the way my wife’s parents bank, they will never get a credit card so these cash delivery systems are key for them.

As a side note this is what is always bugging me about Apple. In the rural parts of Thailand you just don’t see a lot of iPhones except for the wealthy or the aspiring wealthy or hip teenagers who want to show off. I think in all the emerging markets this same phenomenon exists in that outside of the cities you see way more android than iOS phones. I personally have never thought this was only about the price of the handset but it is more about the ecosystem that Apple has created which is basically a wall that only people with credit cards can climb over. Apple continues to power the App Store and Apple services with credit cards where Android, who pushes Google pay, but allows app developers to integrate lots of local payment methods is flourishing. Apple really should do telco integrations or work with wallets that are not card based to get something going before it is too late.

When I was a resident of Thailand, it was always uniquely frustrating place as an expat trying to make it but when I visit I tend to look at things with another lens and I am impressed with the infrastructure growth, the mobile connectivity and the startup mantra that is slowly permeating the place. Maybe some day even politics will get changed but that is not a subject for this blog.

At the airport now they have a sign for a co-working space which I find odd to be located here but who knows. Is it peak co-working spaces in SEA yet?

For the time being I will have some overpriced airport coffee but enjoy my all day 39 baht WIFI.

Good to see some Netflix truth telling

~ michael_msft ~ 2 Comments

Was sent this about Netflix on Bloomberg today.

According to a statement issued last week, international subscribers grew at the slowest rate since 2014, when Netflix was available to far fewer people.

Not surprising – I wonder if Netflix tries to use Netflix from Singapore – the catalog is shit. I wouldn’t even bother using it in Singapore if it wasn’t for my ISP’s feature of routing my Netflix and HBO traffic to the states. It’s amazing the difference between the local catalog and the USA one – it’s still comical to me I can’t watch the latest season of the House of Cards on Netflix Singapore. Would be one thing if Netflix Singapore cost 4 bucks but it doesn’t.

Ultimately Netflix may prevail but I think they have underestimated a few things –

  • Cost. They want to pull the SBUX global pricing game but that’s silly since the size of my cappuccino in Singapore is the same as the one in San Francisco. Netflix catalog differences are huge.
  • Local competition – they act like none exist.
  • Not being able to download. Not a huge issue but an issue.
  • VPN blocking. A bunch of people used Netlfix for the USA catalog – now that has stopped which means they have lost subscribers who were paying USA prices to get access and who dumped them when they saw the local catalog.

Big kudos to iFlix for getting a big mention. What’s glaring is the complete miss on HOOQ but guessing that is either cause most folks are already writing it off or that HOOQ continues to be appallingly bad at PR. 

Here you go HOOQ – got you some PR today. 

IFLix and Netflix are spot on about piracy but Netflix seems to just be burying their head in the sand when it comes to dealing with the issue:

And that won’t be easy. In September, a senior Netflix manager acknowledged piracy as the company’s biggest competitor in Asia-Pacific, the fastest-growing internet market. But instead of lowering prices or seeking different models, Netflix is charging $7.99 per month to subscribe in Cambodia — a country where the average income is about $1,000 per year, and where only 2.3 percent of the population has a credit card. In fact, fewer than half of the 600 million people in Southeast Asia carry plastic. And even if they can pay for Netflix, the experience of watching it probably won’t be pleasant. Almost every country in the region has internet speeds below the global average — oftentimes way below.

They can’t price like this, have a shitty catalog and not offer downloads. It just won’t work.

I have always said – the real competitor in Asia is piracy. Note :: http://www.nokpis.com/2016/04/18/the-actual-state-of-ott-in-emerging-markets/

Netflix, HBO and Amazon will be global video players – also it is too early to tell if FB, Apple and Google will sit this party out since it is such a minefield of losses. We know Apple keeps trying to alter the cable game but that is a USA only thing and their buy on demand model will someday not work out well but for now one gets the best content on PPV. I still buy/rent far too many movies but maybe that is cause I have kids and I want new releases so I can skip the theatre.

My take is that this problem will never be globally solved and that in each GEO it may take on different patterns – just look at India with HotStar having HBO content :: http://www.hotstar.com/tv/game-of-thrones/8184. Word is that HotStar has essentially clubbed to death any of the other major players in India and I expect you will see some casualties soon. I honestly have never understood why HOOQ tried to be India – it is a race they will never win. Seems iFlix is sidestepping the India train wreck and focusing on other winnable territories.

I portend that Netflix is gonna keep bleeding and the investors might start to tire of it. Amazon has yet to show their global video hand but I suspect it will challenge Netflix in certain parts of the world. I wonder if HBO will do more HotStar like plays – I think they should. iFlix seems to be the local or strong emerging markets player to watch and it pains me to say it but I think HOOQ is toast but most folks probably labeled anything built by Singtel as toast anyway. I guess it just depends on what shade of burnt you acknowledge.

As a consumer of stuff – well, I still use my Mom’s Netlfix account, pay for HBO (VPN goodness from viewquest) and continue to wait for Apple to do something cool with the TV.

Shots fired…

Fixing Samui – life as a product guy…

~ michael_msft ~ 1 Comment

Closing out my holiday. Bummed but also miss my kids, but my wife is back and I am ready for my new journey.

I realize that in many ways I am my father. My dad is a mechanic – he fixes cars, build houses and generally tinkers. I wish I was half the man he was when it comes to fixing things. His ability to diagnose a problem and solve it never ceases to amaze me. He helped me build my first car as a way to teach me self reliance and to have my own wheels. 

Loved that ride.

Anytime I am on holiday, I never really shut down, I am constantly thinking about how to make my life better – how to be happier. How to enjoy myself more. Problem is that I can’t control my surroundings.

After my wife finished her Yoga School, we decided to spend a few nights in Koh Samui chilling out before heading home. I found a nice rate on Agoda for The Kala Samui. It’s always hard to pick a place but I like to stay away from the riff-raff and enjoy a bout of good service. The Kala looked like it might work for that.

The main problem I have with the Kala has nothing to do with the the Kala apart from breakfast. I never understand why these places always think everyone wants a breakfast buffett that costs an arm and a leg. We don’t. I would rather be able to order some eggs, some toast and a decent filter coffee. That would be awesome. But no, The Kala only offers a buffet. No thanks.

The other issue is the ridiculous transportation situation on the island. It sucks. Taxis that essentially charge form 300-600 baht to go anywhere. The songthaews are not any better – tryin to charge the same for sitting in the back of a bouncy vehicle pretending that the mere act of offering you a ride at exorbitant rates is costing them the school fees for their kids. So much angst.

It reminds me of Kuala Lumpur, prior to Uber, where getting around town just sucked. The last few trips to KL were awesome though. I never dealt with a taxi driver one time. Not once. Uber was there for me. Say what you will about Uber but taxis in KL suck. They are the worst.

Taxis in Samui are just as bad. Ruining your stay by never offering to us the meter and walking away when you do ask. Many folks might say just rent a motorcycle but as an experienced motorcycle rider we all know that going down is going down. When you wake up in the hospital trying to remember how you got there you won’t be concerned about how you went down or that it wasn’t your fault. You will just be worried about your busted leg or your missing skin. Renting a motorcycle is not a option for me in accident prone Thailand.

Samui would be just perfect with Uber.

I perked up a little when I say some signs for NaviGo Samui. Downloaded it and after the Facebook connect login failed I have given up since it presented me with like 7 fields to fill in. Let’s be honest. It only needs about two so after Facebook connect failed I bailed. So much for that.

Folks – if you want people to use your app during an impulse, for fuck’s sake make the login easy. 

Back to enjoying Samui. There were are at 8pm trying to get to our hotel. Starting from 500 baht and working our way down to 300. Kind of puts a damper on the holiday.

Anyways. Fuck taxis. Roll on Uber.

Yes, I know this is SEA and we have Grab but frankly their support sucks. Still does.

Maybe I can influence Linda to fix it.