On Sun, 12 May 2002, Ian Grigg wrote:
> The problem with paying for anything over $100 is
> having the money with you at that time.
Most such purchases are not 'off the cuff'. They are planned.
> Most purchases are done at some random future time,
Bullshit, most folks plan their future purchases, especially if it isn't
something like rent or food. Things like new TV's are -not- 'random'
purchases (whatever the hell that might mean).
> and without a credit payment, it would be necessary
> to take huge amounts of cash with you at all times.
Bull. Most folks will get by with about $50/day for about 350-360
(birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, vacation, etc.) days of the year.
> A credit token allows you to bring the stored wealth
> with you;
No it doesn't. A credit card in and of itself gives you access to somebody
elses money. You have to pay them back with your own (preferably w/o a
credit card - funny that, no?).
> but it's not the only way.
Right, Certified Checks have been around for quite a while.
> credit and accrued wealth. You could flip out your
> palmtop, access your stored stocks in MicroHard, flip
> it in the market and pay with straight "now" cash.
Well you've got the right idea, though it needs work. It also demonstrates
the problems with Hettinga's 'digital bearer bonds'.
What -will- replace credit cards and checks and other stuff is a better
network and a protocol that will allow one person to -directly- transfer
funds from their bank to the buyers bank -with- a proviso for rollback
within a particular period. A form of escrow. What -will- make the system
stable, trustworthy, and ubiquitous is the fact that there -are- parties
other than buyer and seller involved (the major flaw with Hettinga's
theory) to wnsure fair dispute resolution.
--
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