Don't bank on the banks

Here in Qatar, as with much of the Middle East, the population demographics are relatively simple – local born Qataris, “white collar” expats who largely work in the business sector and “blue collar” expats who provide nearly all of the labour.

The last group is interesting from a technology perspective because they tend to skip things. For example, most will never own a fixed line phone – but nearly all will have access to a mobile device for voice communications. They will also almost never have a PC and, therefore, never have ADSL broadband access to the internet. But, they may well have access to the internet through their mobile handset.

One other thing they may also never have is a bank account – something they share with millions of people across the developing or more remote parts of the world. And, with mobile technology and services developing fast, they may never have to. Already users without traditional bank accounts can store small balances on the mobile device, even with the potential to earn interest. Transactions are made easy, either person to person or for topping up (e.g. Pre-paid) accounts or for making small retail purchases. For these customers, the traditional bank account is fast becoming redundant – thereby reducing the banks’ ability to exploit this large and growing market.

Even those of us who have grown up with the idea that a bank account is not one of life’s optional extras may soon be shifting much of our business away from traditional banking services. For example, payments made using a mobile handset are faster and more secure than using cash or credit cards. In some markets it’s already possible to pay for parking or a train or bus ticket with your mobile – or to debit a credit card account when making an even larger retail payment. These types of transactions still require access to “back end” banking capability – but the role that the banks play is reduced.

And for my children, traditional banking may not be the “given” that it is for my generation. For example, how about pocket money that is transferred from me to them via our respective mobile devices? Their mobile effectively then becomes their “bank” or at very least their “piggy bank” – as well as being a purse or wallet all rolled in to one.

Of course, banks and banking have been around for hundreds of years – and they are not about to disappear off the face of the planet tomorrow. But, as with the dinosaurs, the Roman Empire or the humble celluloid film, we have seen before how often the mighty lose their influence seemingly overnight.

If you can find it, you'll buy it

Do you ever hear a word in conversation that triggers a song in your mind? A song you then can't help humming along to, maybe even recalling a few lines.

We, as a family, are starting to meet some wonderful new friends in Doha. As a consequence we have to remember many new names - not just of people we meet but also of all the friends that Cee & Tee meet at school and around the compound pool. One name in particular really struck a chord - a not very common girl’s name, but one which has featured in a number of popular songs.

As it happened, my wife and I both made different name-song associations and both began singing along to our respective tunes. But neither of us could remember more than a few words. So Cee and Tee looked on in amusement as we both sang/hummed snippets of songs we'd been familiar with "in our youth".

Of course, help was at hand from the internet where the lyrics were quickly revealed. And the "sample" feature on iTunes allowed us all to listen to a portion of the original without having to search the CD collection or buy from new. And, if we hadn't have been able to remember any of the words, there are now several mobile applications that will suggest song titles if you can only hum a portion of the tune.

However, this is where it gets interesting, because on searching iTunes we found, not only the songs we were looking for, but also others that were suggested. Some of which we hadn't heard of before - but we could instantly see what sort of music they were likely to be by the classification. In this case "Children's Music" caught the eye so we spent a few happy minutes sampling different tunes - some of which were very funny, catchy and good for little people to sing along and dance to - so we purchased.

We certainly weren't looking to buy - but the appropriateness of the suggestions and the simplicity of transaction made the decision easy. This got me thinking about why on-line purchasing can be such a success - and it's simple really - it's about the ability to have the right offers presented to you, to be able to "try before you buy" and then to purchase, literally with the click of a button.

So we all now have a selection of new tunes rattling around in our heads - just waiting to resurface and frustrate us in years to come. I just wonder how technology will evolve to make our lives even easier in the future.

Instant Excitement - no more waiting

Sitting in a coffee shop in our new home city of Doha, my two children (Cee and Tee) started acting up as only five and three year olds can - very cutely posing behind their raspberry crushes.

Quick as a flash, my wife pulled out our digital camera and captured the moment. Equally fast, Cee and Tee crowded round to see the pictures of themselves. Instantly excited at seeing their images on screen, ready to be zoomed, cropped or rotated.

This got me thinking about my own childhood and the thrill of photography. We certainly weren't a family of avid snappers but there was always excitement at the thought of taking and viewing photos. However, the excitement was always prolonged as we first had to wait for a role of film to be used up (we typically didn't take more than a few shots at a time) and then to be processed - something which seemed to take days although I'm sure it didn't.

Once, I recall, some family friends arriving with a Polaroid camera - with the ability to view, almost instantly, the captured image. But this was a disappointment as the images were small and rather grainy - and we still had to wait (although minutes (still felt like hours) rather than days).

I guess we are all now familiar with the reduced "cycle times" that come with new technologies - air versus sea travel, email versus snail mail - but, even for someone who works closely with technology, I still sometimes marvel at the speed and power now available to the "everyday technology user".

So why is this important? Well, for starters my children will never experience the leisurely pace of my childhood. Their pace of life is innate for them - but will be sluggish by comparison to the velocity of their children's lives. And secondly, in our busy and hurried lives, I believe there's value in sometimes sitting back to really appreciate what we can now do. And the fact that life is, by and large, better as a result.

Cee & Tee's grandparents in Australia and the UK love receiving photographs of their grandchildren, by whatever medium, but I know that for young and old alike, instant playback and distribution (via email or mobile messaging) is a small but welcome improvement in life.