I think someone has been watching a few too many reruns of the Matrix, and that someone is whoever came up with PayPal’s ‘body integration’ campaign.

Look, we applaud the effort to rid us of the need to remember all those intricate passwords – did I use an ‘e’ or a ‘3’, where did that underscore go, who am I and where are my pants, you know the drill. The measure to remove these passwords can be applauded, the means are a different story. Here’s the Daily Beast:

PayPal plans to put a teensy weensy little microchip into a pill; a pill you swallow every now and again; one where the microchip is sort of like an electronic key that you swipe. Rather than swiping here is what happens: Every time you are near a computer and get the itch to buy something, your pals at PayPal won’t ask you to remember your password…

Instead of using your noodle, PayPal will get the signal from that cute little pill you swallowed and log you on with no muss or fuss. From your ingested microchip, onto the Internet, and you don’t have to even remember your own name!

There is no mention made of what will happen when you take a seat on the throne, spend 30 seconds evacuating your bowels and 12 minutes playing Angry Birds, then return to purchase something off the interweb and your microchip is knee-deep in shite.

We like to be on the cusp of technology but this all seems a little drastic. There is another way and it seems the far more sanitary option; meet the guys over at This Is Me, who make taking control of your online presence as easy as as few clicks.

As for PayPal, thanks but no thanks, we’ll take the blue pill.

[source:dailybeast]