The Editor's Column

Mobility is on everyone's mind these days, as we seek to find the perfect solution for our ever-growing desire to be connected to our various work and play spaces at any time and in any place. Numerous hurdles stand in the way of that desire, however. Although technical problems seem to get solved every day, new issues continue to appear. The whole gamut of contexts and impacts needs to be examined, whether they be individual, organizational, economic, social, political, or technical.

We are delighted to have two guest editors present a special section of this issue on the topic of mobile services. Professors Zakaria Maamar of Zayed University and Sid Davis of the University of Nebraska at Omaha have put together a series of three papers that address important problems in this area. Their guest editorial motivates and introduces the papers. We express sincere thanks to our guest editors, as well as the authors in the special section, for their work in exposing this important area of research to our readers.

The remaining two articles in the current issue are both Market Outlook papers, designed to examine the state of the art in a particular phenomenon. In his article, "Location-Based Services: The State of the Art," Stuart Barnes provides an excellent complement to the special section by examining the different types of services that can be built on location information for mobile devices. The paper covers the spectrum from specific technologies to strategic issues associated with their use and management, and provides a useful look at the current state of development in this important area.

In the final paper, "The Role of Third-Party Seals in Building Trust Online," David Cook and Wenhong Luo take a comprehensive look at a key factor that has the potential to affect trust in Web sites and therefore inhibit or promote activity on the Web. Third- party seals provide an important intermediary service, and this paper presents a thorough summary and analysis of existing programs as well as future challenges in this arena.

Finally, we have one editorial change to note. One of our founding members of the editorial board, Professor Arun Rai of Georgia State University, is rotating off the board. We are very sorry to see him conclude his service, but want to thank him sincerely for the support and contribution that he has provided to the journal in its important early years.