Google Wallet: An Anticlimactic Launch

Google Wallet has been touted as the payment method of the future, but right now, the majority of people can't even use it.

Topping the big news in payment technology this week was the official launch of Google Wallet on Monday. Unfortunately, though, I feel that the launch was somewhat anticlimactic, and I'm hearing that many others feel the same way.

It's not that I think the launch was a complete flop, or that the technology isn't exciting or useful. I had a chance to try out the Google Wallet in several ways at the MasterCard media event I attended last week, and I was pretty impressed. It's just that I don't own a Sprint Nexus S 4G, the only phone that currently works with Google Wallet, and I'm not going to change my service provider and phone just to use the payment technology. I don't know exactly how many people are in my predicament, but I'm certain that the number is much higher than the amount of people who own a Sprint Nexus S 4G.

Google does say that it plans on expanding its mobile wallet to more phones over time. I'm anxious to find out how quickly that expansion will come and how extensive it'll be. It could come sooner than expected, just as the announcement of new Google Wallet partnerships with Visa, Discover and American Express did.

For now, I'll just continue using my George Costanza wallet while I watch and wait:

(Good job on the promo video, Google.)