Have you seen it?

I remember the first time I read about "browsers" and "crawlers". I have never seen or used the Internet during that time (late eighties) and I did not have a clue what a browser is. The picture that I had of a browser was not even remotely what it turned out to be when I saw the Internet in action at a later stage. I was reminded again this week of the difference between learning about something and actually seeing it. It is almost amusing what models people build in their heads of what mobile wallets are and how they work. We that have seen these systems in operation have a clear understanding of how they work, what should be considered when working with them and what can go wrong.

It struck me recently that many people speak of these systems on the basis of what they have read and what others have told them. Some of these people project themselves as experts and even speak at conferences. When you hear an expert speaking about mobile wallets, do yourself a favour: Ask them this simple question: "Have you seen it".