The danger is that in a few hundred years time, the US may have as much cultural spread as anywhere - because everywhere else has been formed in the western mould. Believed to be significantly more secure than existing methods of paying for goods and services over the Internet, a NetCheque is essentially a specialized kind of ticket on which digital signatures and endorsements are layered as the ticket progresses through the system. A NetCash system is in early stages of development. The University of Alabama has used campus information kiosks to provide videos about candidates for student offices, with a touch-screen multimedia system for voting. Students cast their votes by touching pictures of the candidates, and use personal identification numbers to validate their voting status.
Results are available as soon as the polls close.
The system was developed by the Advanced Technology Group of the University's Seebeck Computer Center. In an experimental program at Canada's largest business school, technology reduced time spent on class segments from 10 hours to as little as two hours. The pilot far exceeded projected productivity increases of 30 percent, and techniques will be scaled up for the whole business school.