"The future has become clear during the past year or two. While
             attention has focused on dead dot-coms and stumbling stock markets,
             the foundation for the next e-commerce wave has been established. Some
             can already see it coming". ("Keep It Simple," 2001)
            
             The fulfillment of the promise of mobile commerce or m-commerce is
             still awaited by many people. After the first enthusiastic predictions
             about the commercial potential of interaction between mobile devices, the
             Internet and commerce, there has been an awakening to the complexities and
             reality of m-commerce. The failure of m-commerce to meet expectations is in
             many ways linked to the reasons for the DOTCOM failure in 2000/1. However,
             the jury is still out on the future of m-commerce and the verdict on its
             future is divided between those who see it as a nonviable commercial
             enterprise and those who view the future of mobile commerce in a positive
             light. While there has been a leveling off in the early enthusiastic hype,
             the reality is that many problems still have to be overcome before m-
             commerce can become a ubiquitous mode of commercial transaction. An
             indication that the mood is shifting to a more positive mode is that those
             pundits who used to speak about e-commerce are now talking about m-
             commerce. One of the many reasons for the present situation is the failure
             of the vendors to create a common infrastructure on which to base wireless
             commerce.
             To a certain extent m-commerce is already functioning well in some
             areas of the world. This is the case in Japan where an increasing number of
             people are using the I-mode platform to access the internet via their
             mobile phones, even more so than via their PC's. Users are also
             increasingly using this method to do more than just send e-mails. "They are
             already buying tickets,...