A single case in point was a conversation I had the other day with just such a person. He's reasonably intelligent, has a good job and uses the Internet occasionally for varying reasons. He is not what you would call an IT person although he is computer literate. I asked him a simple question, expecting a simple answer, which was not forthcoming. Then I realized. I wish I hadn't asked the question in the first place!(Do no what I mean.)

Have you ever asked someone the question what do you want? Of course you have, I am sure everyone on the planet has at some time or other. Just to paint the picture this conversation took place during an evening in the pub when we had drunk a couple of beers and were discussing the finer points of the Internet. (Yes, you've seen and heard them...)

So I said, "What is it, that you want?" he answered flippantly "I want to be a tree... ha ha"

"No, seriously?" I said. Looking at me square in the eyes he replied "I want to successfully shop online." I pointed out that it is easy enough, and anyone can do it. He said, "Yes, I know that, I do it, but I can never find what I'm looking for in one place."

I suggested the use of a search engine. Before I had finished the word engine he retorted "Oh yea, right, and end up with 1,200,000 pages of information overload. That's not what I want". I quickly pointed out that you could filter that by refining his search parameters. He looked with techno babble glazed eyes and said "Yes, yes, but I don't have time, what I want is to shop at an internet site which is product category sensitive, that displays the top product from the category I select not as a list but visually, with a clear and concise description and price. I want to see products not just from Click bank, but also from Amazon and any others that might be relevant. Oh, and of course, I want to see anything that might be available from ebay, just in case I can get it cheaper."

Wow!The conversation stalled, as he tried to remember what he had just said, because it sounded good. My brain went into deep thought fuelled by further alcohol, what term was it'product category sensitive shopping'. That's a new one on me, and it got me thinking. I don't remember much about the rest of the evening, apart from the fact that it was a good one. The following morning all I remembered was ?Product Category Sensitive Shopping?, ?PCSS? I thought, for short. Was it just the ramblings of alcohol or does it really exist?.

I began my search on the Internet for just that. It occurred to me that he wasn't asking for anything that he couldn't get in the real world. After all, if you go into a store you will see a list of categories Men's ware, Children's Clothes etc... displayed clearly for all to see. You know that if you follow the directions for Men's Wear that you will be presented with products that men wear.

All he was asking for in a shopping website, was a site with the same facility. After many hours of surfing and with somewhat bleary eyes, I realized that I had failed him. I could not find a site that he described. I could hear in my head, his derision at my failure. I continued to search...

I eventually arrived at a site that stopped me in my tracks. I just sat there, stunned, my determination had paid off. All I could see was the logos of Google+ClickBank+ebay+amazon +other affiliates. Was I going to enjoy telling him this!

As with all silver linings it started to fade when I read the next paragraph on the page. It read 'Who else wants their own professionally designed multi-lingual web site package that's stuffed with over 90 instant niche pages and thousands of the webs hottest products, set-up absolutely free, so you can make money online today?'

As I continued to read the landing page, I realized that this was ProfitMart offering a fully configurable website. Do I really want to get into this? Well he's a good buddy and so I signed up. Some days later I would introduce him to a website called WebStoreShop, even he would remember that name. Yes, it offers exactly what he wanted Product Category Sensitive Shopping. You select the category on the left and the top products for that category are displayed on the page from ClickBank, Amazon, and other affiliates and of course at the bottom of the page ebay. They are displayed with pictures, a description and a price. Job Done!

As I explained it to him, he looked mildly impressed and happy. I thought he had got what he wanted and if I make a few bucks in the process then I am happy too.