Here are some ideas I've had a long time for a much needed
application. I think Rebol could do it.
There are probably tens of thousands of big-time eBay sellers now. If
their average product sells for $10 or so, and it takes at least 1/2
hour to handle all the steps in each sale, they will be making less
than minimum wage. If that time could be cut to 5 or 10 minutes per
sale, that would make a serious impact on their profit margin.
Here are some of the steps a program could manage:
Quickly compose the ad on the eBay website using as much reusable
HTML as possible, send the picture(s) to their website, notify the
buyer of their mailing address and PayPal info, track each step of
the transaction (emails sent and received, payment received, product
shipped, feedback, etc.), print mailing label with address info from
email, print packing slip with ad copy and other info, send feedback
and email that feedback was made, etc. Also make it easily
customizable, so other tracking info can be added by user.
For the buyers, many other processes could be added: paying thru
PayPal, automatic bidding at specified time, tracking of steps in
transaction, and many of the above steps.
I have several times considered being a full-time eBay seller, but
decided against it because I know how much time it takes to complete
each sale. For a program to be really helpful, it must be able to
interact with and produce web pages, ftp, email, printer output, and
tracking of all steps for each product bought or sold. What language
is there that can do this easier than Rebol?
*#*#*#*#*#*#
To design the new structures of writing for screens is a profound
issue of literary structure.� It is important to provide the best
literary structure that we can, for hypertext, as the literature of
tomorrow, determines in part the new structure of civilization.
Civilization is in large part about, and around, what is written.�
This is what we call literature. Literature is an endless river,
connected, like water, in all directions.� Document connections go
forward and backward in time, and sideways between documents.�
Scholarship and fiction, political speeches and criticism,
advertising, journalism and technical reports-- all affect each other
and evolve in a constant flow of ideas and writings. ... Ted Nelson...
Jack Seay [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.earthlink.net/~jackseay/jack
