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Comment by timr | Hacker News Reader

To use a different analytics service, I have to change my code. To use an alternative to Magic, I have to text a different phone number.

apples and oranges.

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I haven't used magic, but their demos imply that they keep data on you.

Example:

  "Send a cake to my girlfriend"
  
  "That'll be $45.43 in 90 minutes".
  
  "ok, do it"

Who's the girlfriend? Where does she live? It's evident they've asked these questions the first time she's come up and then recorded them for later use. Since the service relies to much on personalization, the longer you use it the higher the switching cost will be.

Think they might have over simplified it in the demo. There is no way for them to know if the girlfriend has become an ex or if the person is still living at the same location. They would have to confirm it every time.

    > There is no way for them to know if the girlfriend has
    > become an ex or if the person is still living at the
    > same location. They would have to confirm it every time.

"That'll be $45.43 in 90 minutes to Kate at 123 Bubble St".

Big deal.

Yeah, it's so much harder to just type that the first time:

"send X to my girlfriend at 123 bubble st"

So I stand corrected. This is obviously a massive, defensible industry. Nevermind the fact that there are a dozen of these things in Europe, and none are notable businesses.

Don't forget that they have a stored credit card with payment information as well (via Stripe). That's another barrier to entry - especially considering the effort in building up enough trust to hand over payment details.

that certainly appears to have been a barrier to their launch.

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