Amaz Universe

The payment transaction of electronic commerce — as opposed to cash, personal checks, credit cards, etc. used in the traditional forms of face-to-face transactions– is carried out by a form of digital financial instrument, such as electronic cash, (encrypted) credit information, prepaid smart cards, or electronic checks. These digital financial instruments are backed by a bank, an intermediary, or legal tender.

Currently, the most common means of payment is submission of credit card information through a secured Web transmission. While it is not new, there are several potential problems with this method. First, when purchasing over the Web a consumer rarely knows the merchant selling through an electronic storefront. Without a better financial instrument, this exposure of risks and the common perception of them can limit the growth of electronic commerce. Secondly, a substantial portion of electronic commerce involves digital products, which can be divided and repackaged in an many and nontraditional ways. A consumer may, for example, want to know the score for a particular professional ball game from a pay-per-view Web site. The charge for such online purchases may be very small.  This type of so-called micro-payments in electronic commerce is not economical for credit cards but needs new kind of digital financial instruments.

There is a revolution transforming the global economy. Web technology is transforming all business into information-based activity. The rate of technological change is so rapid that emerging electronic commerce already is making fundamental changes in the economic landscape, affecting every aspect of how business is and will be conducted. The Web has extended the reach of corporations. New business opportunities are growing incrementally because of the vast amount of business information made available by the global Web, which helps bring together the information passed between businesses, between a business and its customers, and among different departments of a business. It will no longer be possible operationally or strategically to ignore the information-based virtual value chains for any business. This paper reviews the scope, current applications, and the potentials of electronic commerce. It also develops a framework for identifying the significant opportunities and important research issues associated with electronic commerce. The emphasis is on taking an interdisciplinary view that integrates technology and business models.

People who were previously amused by Spears’ antics have a more empathetic point of view now.

“When you find the person you’ve been poking fun at is mentally unstable, there’s this guilt that comes after you’ve made fun of them,” says Liz

Shaffer-Wishner, 23, a Louisville resident who works for AmeriCorp Vista. But Shaffer-Wishner doesn’t see a bright future for the star. “She can’t stop her own decline. She’s going to be the next Anna Nicole Smith. She’s going to run herself into the ground.”

Others are also dismayed by Spears’ latest choices. “I was crazy about her before she shaved her head. Now she looks like a little boy,” says James Burrell, 39, an insurance agent who lives in downtown Louisville. He doesn’t think she’s genuinely unstable, just that her current life circumstances have dragged her down. “I think she’s just stressed out … all the attention she gets from the paparazzi. The average person couldn’t deal with it.”

Louisville residents Mary Jent, 30, a mental health-care worker, and Kassie Alfred, 27, a nursing student, said they were never big fans, but they’ve been following Spears’ story. “She went from an idol to a bad after-school special,” Jent says. “I think she’s just in a rough patch, or a fuzzy patch. No matter how crazy I get, I’m not shaving my head.”