Electronic Commerce: What is Different in Germany?

According to a widespread opinion, Germany is lagging behind. Many people in- and outside Germany believe that the Germans slumber through some of the most important economic trends and technological developments, especially at the incipient stages. For example Coke, color television, and computers were not invented there, and Germans often regarded words like iMac or E-commerce as slips of the pen, or the term Internet simply as an abbreviation of the word „international“. But does this picture accurately portray today‘s reality of the Internet and E-commerce? In the following, I will present an outline of the current situation in Germany and Europe and of some important changes that can be expected for the future.