Thanks, Marc.
I think its worth noting that Wave is not in competition with solutions for e.commerce in material goods. The e.commerce that enables online purchases of shirts from L.L. Bean is no threat to Wave. That solution is merely a mode of electronic payment; the goods are delivered by UPS (or whomever). In fact, even Wave uses CyberCash to process its credit card transactions.
The Wavemeter-based system is designed for e.commerce in intellectual or other digital property. It enables the purchase of bits and bytes delivered over the air, on physical media, or by wire. It combines encryption and record-control capabilities to provide a comprehensive solution for the secure distribution of intellectual property to a consumer at a personal computer, set-top box, or other terminal. It enables microtransactions in digital content -- again, over the air, on physical media, or by wire -- even when untethered to the web.
This last point distinguishes the Wavemeter not only from the L.L. Bean-CyberCash transaction (shirts delivered by UPS) but also from the Lotus-CyberCash transaction (software delivered online). With Wave's hardware solution, the combination of: (1) encryption; (2) micro-transactability (rent, rent to buy, by the bullet, etc.); and media independence, is the thing that got IBM's vote.
Best wishes,
John. |
