THE NEXT STEP

While such efforts may remove the first roadblock to electronic commerce, TIME's Joshua Quittner says the real challenge -- how to exchange small sums of money -- remains unmet. "Once we can exchange a few cents, without the transaction costs of credit cards, a whole new economy will come online," Quittner says. "If you have a joke 'home page,' you can sell a joke for a few pennies. If it's funny and you get a few thousand hits, you can make a living at it."