Adapted from a true story:

One day a girl woke up. It was her brother's birthday, but she hadn't sent him a card; she hadn't sent him a present. The truth is, she'd forgotten. She stumbled out of bed and logged onto the internet - went to Blue Mountain for a card: it was free; went to Amazon UK for a present: a gift certificate (which wasn't free; she didn't want it to be free). Less than five minutes; she yawned, and got back into bed.
	Later that day her brother checked his email, found his card and gift certificate. He was very happy: the next day he was going on holiday - a long train journey (booked online at theTrainline.com) and a ferry crossing to a remote island; he had reading material for the journey, but none for whilst he was there - there's only so much you can carry in a rucksack. He logged on to Amazon UK, found a couple of books, gave them the address of his destination. He packed his Mac, his modem and his mobile.
		Two days later, when he arrived, there was a parcel containing his birthday present from his sister. He was very happy. He unpacked his Mac, his modem and his mobile, and emailed his sister; she was very happy.

The Blue Mountain Webmaster was happy...
Amazon employees were happy...
Rail & ferry workers were happy...
Several postmen were happy...
Computer manufacturers were happy...
Telecoms & ISP workers were happy...

They all had jobs supported by eCommerce:
some of them didn't know they were supported by it,
others were dependent upon it.

Friends & family were brought together across hundreds of miles by eCommerce.

All of which is, of course, the way that eCommerce should work,
by exploiting the opportunities that the web presents...
...without exploiting the people who use it.

eCommerce:

You can't drink it;
You can't hold it in your hand;
You can't travel on it;
It can't deliver your parcels;
And it doesn't rot your teeth.
Is it good for you? Or bad for you??

There was once a time when the only way to get information was to buy it. Some information still has to be bought; but as more and more people get online there's a greater and greater demand for information to be free - and that's the way it should be. In the case described by Conrad, the man's mistake was to become dependent on the sale of his information instead of celebrating the opportunity to give it away. It reminds me of another story (also based on a true story): Once there was a webmaster with a wealth of information. He emailed Jesus and asked, "Good teacher, what do I need to do to gain eternal life?" He knew all the commandments about what not to do, and he'd kept them... but something was still missing. Jesus read the email, felt the man's pain, and loved him. He replied, "Give all your information away, and come, follow me." The man went back to his website very sad... eCommerce: free distribution of information; more efficient distribution of goods. You'll never be able to drink it: that's why it's good for you. As for banks: the only thing that we've ever needed them for is to process cash. Their absence from our High Streets will be no big deal in a cashless society (though no doubt the criminal fraternity will miss them). But for now we're neither here nor there: those who can afford it have reduced cash to small change; and those who can't still find themselves forced to carry it in larger quantities (WEIRD that there's a bookshop in north London that still doesn't accept electronic payments...). Which conveniently brings us to books. It doesn't take an eBook to make a fast buck: they've been doing that for years, cutting costs, cutting-edge, cutting throats. It's a steep learning curve for everyone: the Publishers, the Suits and the Consumers... but there's only so much exploitation that people will take before they'll cut out the middle(wo)men and go straight to the authors and to the online bankers who never tied themselves up with contracts and concrete in the first place. To suppliers whose charges reflect their costs, who rely on increased turnover rather than increased margin. eCommerce: it's coming of age, and it'll start to byte back. Because it's people that buy, it's people that carry, and it's people that count.