Change is happening and fast in many parts of the world but in many ways fast adoption is not the norm. We still have many users on a simple phone or even still many without internet access. It will take time but we are headed in the right direction. My daughter studies via ipad and turns in all assignments online so the next generation will move us forward even faster

For a country that is so technologically advanced, the United States sure lacks in certain areas. Look at broadband for example. Europe has been paving the way for faster speeds but for some reason, we're failing to catch up. It's cool that Google is rolling out their own, which will finally match other countries but we're still a ways off from those speeds around our own country, unfortunately.

@ Jason Adams

Your right with all the technology our phones can do it is surprising that we only do so little with them.  I mean in Japan they are about ot have phones that can move when they ring and such as well as phones that might be able to be clear which will be amazing.  But these are just speculations and maybe rumors but I believe we have the technology to do all that.  The other thing is the new phones like hte Notes from Samsung that has a huge screen and can do so much to the new LG that can let you run two apps at the same time with one screen.  That is something amazing and it has a quad processor.  Plus the ability to take still pictures while taking a video in real live time.

Great resource, Thanks Ronnie. It's definitely a shame. We're in an era where smartphones rule our lives yet we can't even use their full potential yet. Hopefully now that everyone seems to own a smartphone these days, we'll start to see things change more rapidly and for the better.

I agree Alison. It's not very surprising; the U.S. lags a lot in certain areas of technology. It's not that the technology doesn't exist either, it's simply not catching up that is the problem. I too am not sure whether it boils down to the credit card companies or what, but it's time to move forward! :)

Well my license is in my wallet but normally when i realize I left it at home it is to late to go back for it.  And your right we are so far behind in technology sense like you said they have been buying stuff from a vending machine in Japan for years and according to 3dcart

"Mobile commerce was introduced back in 1997 when Coca Cola installed the first two mobile phone enabled vending machines in Finland. They were able to send mobile payments to the vending machines via SMS text messages. It was in the same year and country that an mCommerce based banking service was introduced as well."

That shows how far behind we are and if you would like to know more you can read this site and it talks about the changes in the economy and the use of cell phones and the history of what it does.

http://www.3dcart.com/whitepapers/Mobile-Commerce-White-Paper.pdf

We're definitely going to see more digital wallet options, although it has surprised me too, @JAdams, that the U.S. lags other nations in this area. I'm not sure if it's because the credit card and debit card providers are so well-entrenched here or whether there are other reasons, but it's certainly not because people don't have smartphones! With more consumers accustomed to making online payments, using our phones to pay the tab is a natural next-step.

If the thief knows what they are doing, especially with a sim-based phone, it's not too difficult at all. It's a good thing that a lot of newer phones have some pretty good security measures. Like how the iPhone can wipe your data after so many failed attempts. I'm not sure what android phones offer since I don't use one and never have, but I'd imagine there is something similar or maybe an app that could do it.

Cell phones are definitely a more secure payment option than credit cards. Mythbusters did an episode once on just how easy it is to get information off of a credit card. Not as easy to do with a phone that is secured.

Do you carry your license in your wallet? I'd go back for it at least for that :). 

Here in the States, we are so behind on some of these advances. Countries like Japan have been using their phones for years to make purchases. Even at vending machines. It's only a matter of time before it finally catches on here and I for one thing its a brilliant idea. We use our phone for everything now, so why not for payments too? 

@ Alison

I would have to agree if I had someone steal my wallet and take my credit card I may not know for a while till I needed that card but my phone like you said I would know right then.  My phone goes with me everywhere and I normally have it in my front pocket or in my hand all the time.  While I have lookout on my phone to render it useless via the wipe feature and then I have one that is to make it scream if someone tries to access it without the correct password after three tries.  The bad thing is I have T-Mobile so the thief will have my phone by putting their sim card in it but they would have to do a factory reset on it to use it.