Comment Re:special e-money for small amounts? (Score 1) 328
Several people have tried this, and there are a bunch of proposals for so-called micropayments. But there are a couple problems:
a. Most PCs have such lousy security that putting control over (say) $200 in e-cash on your computer is like leaving $200 on your front porch, just in case you need it to pay the pizza delivery guy. The security on any $0.05 purchase doesn't have to be all that great, but if I can forge a few thousand such purchases from you, I can make some real money.
b. Payment systems have to be adopted widely to be useful. (That is, you have to be able to spend the e-money you've got on your machine.) It's hard to get this to happen, both because credit cards are good enough for most things, and because setting yourself up an account is usually more hassle than just downloading an application, especially if you want to be able to accept payments.
a. Most PCs have such lousy security that putting control over (say) $200 in e-cash on your computer is like leaving $200 on your front porch, just in case you need it to pay the pizza delivery guy. The security on any $0.05 purchase doesn't have to be all that great, but if I can forge a few thousand such purchases from you, I can make some real money.
b. Payment systems have to be adopted widely to be useful. (That is, you have to be able to spend the e-money you've got on your machine.) It's hard to get this to happen, both because credit cards are good enough for most things, and because setting yourself up an account is usually more hassle than just downloading an application, especially if you want to be able to accept payments.
