Born in 1960 I remember hearing people say "I will NEVER put my credit card online!" and other such commentary. Heck, I remember people saying that they would never use (or trust) an ATM machine.
I watched the original launch of Shopify back in 2004. I was a witness to see founders Tobias Lutke, Daniel Weinand and Scott Lake begin a platform while trying to build an online store for their own snowboarding business, Snowdevil.
Running the Distance Learning Association gave me a great seat to watch the entire Ecommerce industry take hold. The buying and selling of goods and services over the Internet. All things 'Remote' via benefits like 24/7 accessibility and global reach for business. All while allowing customers and clients to do business with anyone from anywhere. We all know the history of Amazon.com becoming 'The Everything Store' from the early days of just selling books.
Along the way, the NYDLA.org became a Shopify partner, a BigCommerce partner, an Adobe partner - and a (insert name here) partner.
Long before 'E-commerce' there were direct mail catalogues with 800 numbers. Massive contact centers / call centers with real humans taking phone calls. 1-800-Flowers was founded in 1976 when Jim McCann purchased his first retail flower shop in Manhattan. The company later grew and rebranded to 1-800-Flowers in the 1980s after acquiring the iconic toll-free number. www.1800flowers.com seems to be doing just fine. I wonder if anyone ever calls the 800 any more vs. just going to their website.
And now in 2026: the 'Shop' on the top left corner of the NYDLA.org is our BigCommerce store. We could have used Shopify or Adobe or whatnot - maybe one day we will switch it up. But today our 'Shop' is the Technology ASSURANCE Cooperative. We have the entire line cards of all the major telecom and technology providers. The shop began as the virtual campus bookstore for the thousands of schools serviced by the DLA. I vividly remember spending (A LOT of) money at the Follett Bookstore on PURDUE campus in the early 80s. Pre-Internet. Also, it was CASH and CHECKS only. There were no credit cards for college students back in those days. Thank goodness.
My prediction for the future is that AI Supported Ecommerce shall become the future of business. Humans with AI Mastery working from anywhere in the world will replace any need for call centers | contact centers. And that the future of work - the future of education - the future of entertainment - shall be firmly found in the clouds.
You know, the Stratosphere.
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