The Role of Email
E-mail is seen as the equivalent of modern letter-writing, but it is basically a file-transfer mechanism, which can handle letters as well as all types of files. Because of the familiarity and acceptance of e-mailing among Internet users, consumers will be ready to grasp its future functions.
Permanent e-mail addresses are offered freely, which is based on the forwarding principle. A future virtual player will have a permanent Internet identity, much like a social security number. Messages will be forwarded to current servers based on dynamic updating of domain name servers or net identity servers.
The futuristic aspect in this scenario is in making all these technologies work in a seamless, interoperable system; therefore, when developing a component technology, businesses need to have a long-term perspective. For example, the analog HDTV standard has been abandoned by the Japanese government and corporations who introduced it early in the 1980s. Analog HDTVs will not operate with digital HDTVs and are thus unable to participate in the digital revolution. Going against such a trend will be a disaster. Likewise, smart products should adopt standard communications protocols so they can be controlled remotely via the Internet or other prevailing networks. Proprietary software will isolate the product and diminish its usefulness in the virtual economy. By visualizing how consumers use their products in the future, businesses can gain an insight into what features their products must offer as well. Not one of a market transaction involving sellers and customers. Electronic commerce will be conducted exchanged their messages, and went about their everyday lives, but with added technologies and features of an economic system—payment mechanisms, product specifications, intermediation, and negotiation processes for trade, contracts, and delivery. The most significant lesson for product sellers in the above example is the need for interoperability that enables an integrated and seamless consumption process.