Firms that sell services aren't the only ones getting streamlined. So are the finance departments of corporations. Checks, which are trucked and flown from bank to bank, cost two to three times as much to process as electronic payments, such as with credit cards. That could really help the economy. The Internet will be another force for change.
Further drops are in store.
Securities Data Co. Among the biggest losers will be floor traders and specialists. They're like John Henry, who died trying to outdo a steam drill. With gigabit computer networks crisscrossing the oceans, it is possible to bring together all the world's interest in a particular stock, bond, currency, or derivative at a single point in cyberspace. There, a supercomputer can match buyers and sellers at light speed and infinitesimally narrow spreads. Of course, some sectors are doing just fine.