“Square’s COO Keith Rabois is predicting that nearly all retailers will be running their business off an iPad or comparable device in the near future,” Tricia Duryee reports for AllThingsD.

MacDailyNews Take: There is no comparable device.

“When pressed for a time frame in a recent interview, Rabois claimed that the transition could take place in as little as 18 months,” Duryee reports. “This would be a very fast pace, given that so many merchants have already invested thousands of dollars in their point of sales machines — not to mention other hurdles, such as getting employees up to speed on new systems.”

Duryee reports, “‘The era of standalone machines is over,’ said Rabois, a former executive at PayPal. ‘Everyone will be migrating to iPads and comparable devices, which will be powered by an app — that is, hopefully, Square.’”

Read more in the full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "MotivDev" for the heads up.]

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Inside Apple’s secret plan to kill the cash register – May 19, 2012
Square’s new app turns Apple’s iPad into full-blown cash register (with video) – March 5, 2012
Apple’s iPad already replacing cash registers by the bushel – August 23, 2011