Money Central (MSN) on the future of money: “At the peak of the tech boom in 1999, techies raved about how cash was quickly going to become obsolete. Everyone, they said, would pay for things using cards embedded with microprocessor chips -- be it at the dry cleaners, the soda machine or the hotdog vendor. The hype was enough to propel some 2.2 million people to sign up for American Express’s “Blue” card, the first mainstream chip card geared for everyday purchases. But the hoopla has tapered off since then, to say the least. The Blue card has proved no better than a competitive credit card with a hologram that looks cool. So what, exactly, happened to the idea of the cashless society? Actually, analysts say, it’s still coming.”
