While I was living in Italy, I noticed that the internet was not as popular as it is in other countries. Many of my Italian friends are just now making e-mail accounts and using online services for products. In America we use the internet for EVERYTHING, from shopping to travel to banking. I remember one time I even tried to buy my boyfriend an airline ticket online but they didn’t trust the internet, so they went to a travel agency instead.
There are many reasons for the slow development of e-commerce in Italy, the main reason being the Italian distributive structure which is made up of many small, specialized shops instead of larger corporate companies. Other reasons include: a lack of PCs in the home, fear of web-based interactions, and the fact that Italians historically like to do business face-to-face.
Another technological difference that I saw first hand was that credit card usage in Italy is pretty much non-existent. They conduct business solely in cash, a concept that was relatively new to a Southern California girl who is used to using a debit card for all my transactions.
Telephones usage in Italy is also changing rapidly. Due to high costs per call, many Italians have multiple phones (ie. a phone to call, a phone to text and a smart phone to play games, take pictures, and surf the internet).
I think that Italy is starting to expand their technology, and even the government is on board with this. The government buys computers with tax payers money for high school students in order to encourage the expansion of the internet.
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