Wallet Upgrade

         This year for Father's Day, I received a gift from the family. It's one of those minimalist wallets. I didn't even know they are part of the men's fashion trend. As the name suggests, it's a lightweight wallet that takes up little space in your pocket.

         I have heard of Ridge Wallets, but always thought those were too expensive. Lucky for us, there are plenty of alternatives on the market. The particular brand I received was from Rossm.

         This is the first time I read about protection for RFID chips in your debit and credit cards. The RFID technology has been there for decades, but it's starting to pick up in payment processing. You know, tap and go.

         Some of you may not have realized, but the US has been behind in terms of payment processing options. It wasn't too long ago that my credit cards started to have the insert chips in them. At the same time, the delay in roll out also meant we didn't have to deal with certain problems.

         I know I'm not doing the technical aspect justice, but I've only started to learn more about it. To me, it's interesting how even basic goods like a wallet need to adapt to changing technology.

         Back to what's in the box. It comes with an instruction booklet. There are replacement screws, which are very small. A screwdriver for those screws, as well as extra parts for the wallet. In case you are wondering, the wallet came assembled. I didn't have to do anything.

         As advertised, the wallet is light and compact. I have yet to test out how effective it is at RFID protection. None of my current cards have RFID chips in them. I guess it doesn't hurt to prepare ahead of time.

         Here's a size comparison to get you an idea of how compact the wallet is. I put it next to my old wallet and a quarter. That old wallet has served me well over the years. I got it back in 2008 from Next when I was in the UK. I hope this new carbon fiber wallet will last at least that long.

         We live in exciting times. It feels like I have lived through several technological breakthroughs since 2000. Sometimes, I do wonder how sustainable it is. It almost feels as if we'd need more and more things in order to stay "functional" in our society. I'm starting to miss the simpler days when we'd pay with cash and call it a day.