TTR Ep 4109: Adam takes a look at Google's Wave, eBay turns 10, the NSW police advise us NOT to use windows for internet banking, Patch Tuesday is big, and make your passwords strong - WA EFTpos scams thousands.

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DATE : Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:34:58 +1100
Entered in Database : 2009-10-12 11:34:58
length : 50000000
Link to the Show / Show Notes

In these days of easy come, easy go, there one minute, gone the next, web sites and web services, only a few have managed to stand the test of time and become truly iconic internet sites. Probably the one that mostly comes to mind is Google. Who would have thought that search would have developed into what it is today, but it seems that online shoppers, and those keen to spot a bargain have made eBay into probably the most respected online shopping sites to date. Only just last week, Telstra killed off the Trading Post, a pre internet equivalent of ebay, without the added advantage of real time auctions, so would it surprise you that ebay is celebrating its 10th birthday in Australia? It’s come along way since its launch in 1999, and if you could sit down with it at a dinner table, it would tell some strange stories.

In 1999, eBay was an auction-based sales site with an average of 94,000 listings a month, today it has 80 times that in both the auction and buy-now format.

In Australia it’s sold strange things such as Pat Rafter's ponytail, and even a Perth man's entire life.

But the stats speak for themselves. eBay Australia has sold more than 173 million items at a rate of one item every 1.8 seconds, and according to eBay, the site has gravitated from an auction-based collectables seller to an online shopping mecca, now contributing about $2.6 billion to Australia's GDP. In 2007 Australia GDP was estimated at $773bn so eBay has contributed about 0.3% towards that.

More than 52,700 Australians now make a primary or secondary income out of eBay, while 5.79 million unique visitors were recorded in September this year. The site now has eight million registered users, up from 9000 in 1999.

Oh, and for the record, the first sale was a Harmon Kardon amplifier, while the most expensive, the last Holden Monaro ever produced, went for $187,600.

I would have at a guess that everyone listening to Tech Talk Radio right now would have bought and sold something on eBay. It’s become a way of life for some, and product of our modern environment which has stood the test of 10 years. So what will it be like in another 10?

Also on the show this week:
Adam gets stuck into everyone with weak passwords – could that be you?
Microsoft retires Works and rolls out 13 updates for patch Tuesday
EFTpos security and passwords should be high on the agenda and
Google's WAVE explained.

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