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Teletext and Viewdata, recently developed information technologies collectively known as Videotext, could have a significant effect on the retail sector over the next few years. It is estimated that by the middle of next year there will be one million households with TV sets capable of receiving teletext, so that several million people will become familiar with the technology. From the retailer's point of view, Viewdata would appear to be more useful since it is “transactional”. The retailer could use it as part of an internal administrative system, or a customer information system, or as an extension of shop based selling. Through viewdata, retailers can offer teleshopping services — so that consumers can order and pay for merchandise by terminal from their homes or places of work. The authors argue that the ‘push button age’, will not radically alter ‘shopping’, as we recognise it today, although it will begin to modify shopping patterns. Customers will continue to visit shops to examine merchandise so that they can have the opportunity to speak to specially trained sales staff. Teleshopping is set to complement existing shopping methods, by offering us all a wider range of shopping choice and ways by which orders can be placed.

During the 1970s we became thoroughly accustomed to the use of “plastic money”; the volume of UK based credit card transactions rose from 10m in 1971 to over 100m by 1979. Today there are over 13m credit cards in circulation, and this excludes other cards issued by department stores and multiples. But this proliferation of plastic creates its own problems. Control needs to be exercised over excessive spending by card‐holders; the unit costs of processing card‐based transactions needs to be contained; and of course the possibility of fraudulent use must be safeguarded against. The transaction telephone is one way in which these problems can be tackled. Already commonplace in the US, they are now being used by some major department store groups in the UK. The first part of this article reviews the range of technological issues which have so far determined the way credit card automation has developed. It also discusses how other technological factors may influence the different kinds of service delivery packages for retailers and ultimately card holders. The second part, to be published in our next issue, will discuss aspects of market strategy development for both the larger and smaller card issuing organisations.

The first part of this article, published in our September/October issue, looked at the way credit card automation — and in particular the transaction telephone — had developed. It discussed whether or not transaction telephones might in future be linked to the retailer's point of sale equipment so that credit authorisation might be completely integrated with the POS. It also looked at the potentiality of transaction telephones being used in conjunction with electronic funds transfer. A number of other possible uses were also examined. This second part is concerned with market related aspects, and at the influences exerted by the larger credit card companies, developing their automation facilities at point of sale, upon the smaller credit card companies.

Do we want electronic funds transfer? Can we afford it? What's wrong with existing payment systems — cash, cheques and credit cards? These are some of the starting‐off points in a major research project into the impact of micro‐electronics on the banking and retail sectors carried out by the authors of this article during 1981. Interviews were carried out with around 200 people from 150 organisations — banks and major retailers, mostly supermarket groups, department stores, and multiples. Existing payment systems are of course expensive — and cumbersome and insecure. But there are three sets of needs to be considered: not only those of the banks, but also those of the retailer and the consumer. The researchers found that these three parties don't all want the same things, but what is apparent is that the existing payment systems are, in general, acceptable for the retailer and the consumer, but not for the banks. They provide banks with major problems and considerable costs. The researchers conclude: “We did not find the case for EFT proven beyond reasonable doubt.” Such a system has advantages, but the costs would be likely to be paid for by the consumer — for whom the benefits are not very pleasant. Their view is that it is more likely to be the 1990s rather than the 1980s before a total system of on‐line EFT is firmly established. The views expressed in this special feature are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Policy Studies Institute.

At the heart of any process of observation there are certain basic things which must happen. These might be analysed in abstract terms, or then again in terms of the quantum physical irreducibles. The paper links between these concerns. It starts by exploring the macroscopic processes which are essential to observation and from there it develops the outline of a path heading towards a continuum based model of quantum mechanics, and in particular, electrodynamics. It exposes attributes which are fundamental to the existence of an observer process, and then explores how the seat of those attributes may be found in the way we set‐up our notion of the basic properties of physical reality. Such a model is offered as a contribution to what is called “second‐order cybernetics”, namely the study of how we go about observing the observer process.

This paper aims to serve as an integrative literature review that organizes the burgeoning literature and findings related to possible impacts of the selfie phenomenon on consumers.

This is a conceptual paper.

The current empirical scholarly work supports two conflicting perspectives on the impact of selfies: the selfie experience as a source of empowerment and the selfie as embodiment of societal control and expression of existing power-relations. While the two perspectives are seemingly discordant, in fact, they pertain to different levels of analysis – individual and social, respectively.

While the empowerment aspect of the selfie experience has been well-documented in existing literature, the mechanisms of control and disempowerment have remained underconceptualized. This research paper offers a framework which addresses this omission and theorizes ways in which the selfie phenomenon perpetuates societal control and maintains power-relations.