Cell Phone Mania

The cell phone can make calls, surf the 'net, send/receive e-mail, and take pictures. Now, it can store your credit card information and make purchases. Link. Excerpt:

Already a device of multiple disguises, from camera to music player and mini-TV, the cell phone's next trick may be the disappearing wallet. After all, since more than a quarter of the people on the planet already carry around cell phones, and hundreds of millions are joining them every year, why should they bring along credit and debit cards when a mobile device can make payments just as well?

At the simplest level, all that's needed is to embed phones with a short-range radio chip to beam credit card information to a terminal at a store register. It's not unlike the wireless system used to pay tolls on many highways or the SpeedPass keychain wand used to buy gas at Exxon Mobile Corp. pumps.

We find it awesome, in the real sense of the word: It boggles our mind and we're intrigued, but we always wonder about the unseen costs. McLuhan ruined us forever from ever sitting back and just enjoying these things.