where will technology take us in the 21st century? - forecast

Black Enterprise, March, 2001 by Jason P. Mckay

If the term sounds familiar, it should. This is actually the second iteration of an Internet digital payment system. The difference between this version and DigiCash, however, is that the original was not actual U.S. currency. Digicash was like buying a gift certificate and using it at online merchants, similar to, say, Flooz.com.

Although still in its infancy, the current iteration of digital cash is blazing its own trails. Currently, you can send cash via e-mail once you open an account with a provider, enabling you to pay at an online merchant or auction sites. For consumers, there's no fee; merchants typically pay 1% to 2% on each transaction to companies such as PayPal and CheckFree, a bill-payment firm that will roll out its own digital cash service later this year.

PayPal's 4.5 million users send about $7 million daily. Users simply open an account with the company with either a credit card or bank account information. The company also pays 5.2% annual interest on balances. These accounts are not FDIC insured, however.

HOME TECHNOLOGY SIMPLIFIED

With terms like "convergence," "broadband," and "networked home" now commonplace, vendors are seeking to lighten the load on the home front. Does anyone remember WebTV? The newest generation of Web home devices is the best evidence that Internet appliances are here to stay--in some form or another.

Netpliance led the way in 1999 with the iOpener. Currently 3tom is touting Audrey (a digital home assistant), which features a wireless keyboard and a stylus. Compaq is also in the picture, offering the iPAQ Home Internet Appliance.

While these units don't have the processing power and speed of a typical late-model PC, they are widely being accepted for what they can do, and are finding a welcoming audience among those who want the basics--e-mail, Internet access, and home-management tools such as scheduling, address book, and recipe storage. All feature one-touch access to e-mail and the Internet, and are a fraction of the cost of a PC (from $199 to $549, plus Web access).

So what's next for Internet appliances? "Wireless," says Jon Conmy, 3Com's manager of developing applications. "In a home setting, wireless technologies will allow us to more elegantly insert new products easily and more intelligently."

Because consumers will use these appliances for Internet content rather than, say, creating spreadsheets and Word documents, these units going forward will also focus on lifestyle and entertainment features, says Conmy. In fact, 3Com began shipping Kerbango, an Internet radio that can fetch thousands of stations around the globe, in January.