Credit cards are no use for such small amounts (including micropayments online) unless they are used through an aggregator such as BT Clicks, PayPal, etc. due to minimums and interest charged.

In recent years, there have been several attempts to replace physical cash with electronic cash. These have had varying degrees of success - from the complete failure of the Mondex programme to the low-level acceptance of schemes such as Chipknip in the Netherlands for small payments such as parking. The technologies are there to implement - the problem lies with us. To change a human behaviour that has been with us for so long requires much more than technology, legislation, or funding - it requires a very long time for any replacement to become familiar, trusted, and accepted. Electronic cash, which is what we are talking about, is a solution looking for a problem where none exists.

I'm sure that it is also supported by lots of study groups and good intentions within Philips. It serves as a nice umbrella mission statement for the company's operations, encompassing everything from medical instruments, through consumer electronics, to the humble, but highly profitable, lightbulb. And simplicity is an advertising message that addresses very well Philips' key target consumers - the middle aged/elderly - who look for uncomplicated operation and good local (European) after sales service in case of problems (this always has been a Philips strength).

Let's be clear, simplicity is NOT a goal of technology. And what does 'technology that makes sense" really mean? These days, usability is fundamental to good design and the leading manufacturers all understand the importance of conducting usability studies. So achieving 'simplicity' in operation for the user is a common goal in product design and is not exclusive to Philips.

The way I see it is that Philips is still focusing on 'technology' issues - stating that the technology makes sense and is applied to improve operational simplicity in Philips products. As a consumer, I am not actually interested in the technology at all. And although the Philips marketing messages promise simplicity, do the products actually deliver an improvement in the 'out of box' experience and product learning phase compared to those from the main competitors? Probably not.

The fact is that just as technology has increased feature set and user interface complexity over the years, the size and cost of displays, memory and processing power have reduced to a level that now enables smart, simplified, more humanized user interfaces to be integrated in ever cheaper products. Today, microprocessors are present in most electronic products but they are still used primarily for operations rather than introducing easier more logical interfaces for the humans that use them. In fact, because of the memory, display and processing power within devices, the potential for increased functionality is there and and it is much easier to sell additional features than a simplified user interface. Those features almost certainly make "sense" from a technology point of view too!

Much more could be done in the area of usability (or human factors), but all the leading consumer electronics (ignoring professional, medical etc. where more is happening) are competing in a market which is predominantly driven by price, brand and styling. Making your device more expensive than your competitors but slightly easier to use does not make sound commercial sense when addressing today's aggressive, fast moving global markets where the profit margins in manufacturing hardware are low and continuing to erode.

The bottom line is that good design is usually simple and elegant. If you don't need a megapixel camera, TV reception, an MP3 player, a web browser with HSDPA-speed Internet access, and a GPS/nav system with location finder technology built into your phone then you can, like me, buy a perfectly serviceable, simple-to-use mobile phone that supports voice calls, SMS and an address/phone book for around 35 euros (the battery seems to last forever!). But that's not what the manufacturers (alas not Philips anymore!) want you to buy. Manufacturers make more money by adding value through feature set than they do through 'sense', 'simplicity', or improved usablity. But it does make very good advertising.

Important, but not enough.

Take video laser discs, for instance. Once it has been was the definitive collector's medium for high resolution video.

Nevertheless­, the introduction of a simpler medium, the dvd, has effectively destroyed the market for laserdiscs.

The discs were 30 cm (12 inch) across, and were both fragile and heavy. There was no way for a home user to record to an LD. Depending on the format, each side of an LD could hold at most 30 or 60 minutes of content, and then the disc would have to be turned over. If the movie was longer than two hours, it eventually required putting in a second disc.

People do head to the best and simplest solutions, which explains the success of some products in the market as the failure of others.