RFID
“…Amazon’s string of losses (which touched $1.4 billion in 2000) only turned to profits in 2003.”
Another article that mentioned amazon as a business that loses or profits example.
“All successful online sites have had to reinvent themselves continually,…”
Does that mean the business model life expectancy will be short? Yes. We have to keep change, evolve, adapt to new conditions.
“…not the sort of strategic planning that traditional boards like to hear.”
“Two features of this new business environment have been surprisingly helpful in creating value: the sheer variety of products and services that can be offered online; and the extent to which online communities help each other for free.”
Friends Reunited charges for a fee – not in Israel. Israel’s equivalent is hevre.co.il (means buddies), which is offered for free. I looked at Friends Reunited site and I couldn’t see any fee request. ???
“What might drive the next round of e-commerce business models?…mobile access to the Internet and RFID tags, which enable the non-stop monitoring of the whereabouts of goods.”
I completely agree with the first one, know nothing about the second one. A quick search on Google came up with: Radio-frequency identification. An RFID tag is an object that can be attached to or incorporated into a product, animal, or person for the purpose of identification using radio waves. There are three types of RFID: passive, semi-active and active. An interesting recent use for them is in passports – just like the new e-passport offered by Australia. RFID can also be used as a replacement for barcodes or ID badges, or are being used for building access control, airline baggage tracking, apparel item tracking and microchip implants and not only in animals. I can’t believe so many kinds of RFID have infiltrated our lives without being aware of the fact that the technology is the same.
Resources:
Business: Happy e-birthdays; Internet Businesses
The Economist. London. Jul 233, 2005. Vol.376, Iss. 8436; pg. 62
Wikipedia, Radio-frequency identification