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0 pointspg14y ago0 comments

Oy. The reason I didn't explain what Bump does is precisely the question you thought it was improper to ask him: since he's a Bump user, he already knows.

What Bump does is mutually authenticate two smartphone users by having them bump their phones together, and correlating the accelerometer readings. On top of authentication you can build all sorts of things, starting with exchanging contact info. The hard/critical part is reliability.

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3 comments · 1 top-level

daeken14y ago· 2 in thread

Sorry, I think we're talking past each other here. I understand what Bump does/is, but what I (and I believe the original asker) are missing is where the value is. While I can come up with a million use cases for this, e.g. bumping for payments, bumping to share photos, etc, I believe you're in a fairly unique position to be able to express what the core value proposition of the company -- now and moving forward -- is and why it matters to the users. I don't think focusing on the how or what does that.

anateus14y ago

Your confusion is really puzzling to me. You seem to understand why it's useful (ability to share contact info, payments, photo sharing), but how is that different from the "value proposition"? As far as I can tell that's the value proposition! It's like Tri Flow for device communication, making it simpler and easier and faster and more convenient. Sounds like value to me.

daeken14y ago

I could come up with a dozen ways in which Google could use their assets to do new things and potentially increase shareholder value; that doesn't mean they'll do it. pg is in a fairly unique position to tell us how Bump can add value, not just some random speculation, e.g. from myself.

What sort of confuses me is that normally he is shouting from the rooftops about how a startup changes a user's life, but that's absent. I don't get it, especially because I am bullish on Bump.

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