If you are a small business owner then you are likely aware of the ridiculous cost of some credit card machines. For a long time small businesses were able to do without accepting credit cards, but over time more and more people have started to rely on debit and credit cards. This of course meant that small business needed to adjust in order to server their customers. Now, most small business owners are being raked over the coals by the high percentages and fees charged when they use a credit card machine. However, one man, Jack Dorsey one of the co creators of twitter, plans to make those machines obsolete. Enter the Square.

The Square is a revolutionary piece of technology that allows iPhone users to accept credit card payments. Simply by this little thing, plug it into your iPhone, download the app, and you are in business. Making this even better is the fact that according to Square, the only price you will ever have to pay is when you buy it. That means no more credit card machines for countless small business owners, and quite possibly a change in the way business is done.

Imagine the implications of this device. Not only will it benefit traditional brick and mortar businesses, but Kiosk owners, door to door salesman, even your paperboy could soon be accepting any major credit card. Picture it now, little Suzy asks you to buy some lemonade, you tell her you don't have any cash. She smiles, pulls out her phone and says “No problem, I would be happy to take payment by credit card”.

While it is true that as of now the Square only works with the iPhone, it probably won't be long before it comes out for everything else as well. Another hurdle the device is going to have to overcome is public trust. According to the company, there is no information actually stored on the phone itself. Yet, everyone knows that hacking is possible, and there are probably going to be a few less than honest individuals attempting to get past this.

If the Square hopes to succeed world wide it is going to have to do something about Europe. Right now, most credit card companies over there are quickly switching from the traditional magnetic strip, to the more secure chip implant. For Square to have any hopes of breaking into the other world markets, it will have to find an answer to these problems.

In the end, the Square has presented an interesting gadget to keep track of if nothing else. While I expect it to have a great deal of success, I also thought beta max tapes would outdo VHS.

How about you? Bought the square? Let me know how it worked for you.