I’ve long been a fan of the idea that you should be able to conduct a transaction, and exchange money, while in a conversation. Howard and I discussed this extensively in late 2003 as part of the process we went through building the iotum business plan. Eventually we abandoned the idea, concluding that Paypal was better positioned to do it than we were. Well, 2.5 years later, the latest iteration of the Skype / Paypal roadmap has this very idea! Check out Bill Campbell’s post on Skype Journal for more details.
Cool!
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry make Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
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Alec, they are slowly moving towards what we've be at for a while now…check out http://www.ether.com
It's tricky, lots of things to put together to make it seamless for buyers and sellers. Presence, scheduling, callbacks, pricing models sellers can offer, etc. etc. Someone is going to nail it and enable services (advice, consulting, expertise, help etc.) to be exchanged smoothly
We should chat again, we only got a few minutes at the etel conference…
ebbe
I'd love to Ebbe. Been meaning to call you. You can reach me at 613-482-9088.