Local businessmen are increasingly facing competition from online retailers. Larry Pollock, owner of Camera Co/Op on South Congress, said he has been dealing with this kind of problem for years, even before the Internet. The struggle began with mail-order catalogues , which are similar to online retailers in that they have few employees to pay, no sales tax fees and no business venue to lease and manage. 

"Their overhead is lower, but they don't offer a service like we do," Pollock said. 

Pollock, however, said providing a valuable service to customers does not always guarantee continued sales. 

"We spend 30 minutes to an hour with somebody and they go home and buy it on line," he said. 

According to the state comptroller's office, online shopping is developing at a more rapid rate than traditional businesses. 

In spite of how fair or unfair online shopping may be to the local businessmen, consumers will continue to turn to the Internet for its variety and accessibility, said Mitch Wilson, an online shopper. "You have a larger selection and it's easier to compare prices." 

Wilson said he built his personal computer and paid a third of the price by shopping on line. 

"Before the Internet, I would have had to go and buy an assembled computer from somebody like Dell," he said. "Before I started shopping on line I could never find all the pieces I wanted. No single store had everything needed, so shopping on line saved me from having to buy from Dell." 

Janny Brazeal, a psychology freshman, said online shopping is too impersonal. 

"'d rather see it in person, touch it, know that I'm getting it," she said. 

Brazeal also said she would not give out her credit card number or other personal information on line no matter how safe the site claims it is. QUESTIONS:

Q1:
1. What is being called a valuable service?
2. What service is valuable?
3. 
Q2:
1. What is the problem being faced by Camera Co/Op?
2. What issue are local businesses, like Camera Co/Op, are facing?
3. What is the issue at hand that businesses like Camera Co/Op are facing?
Q3:
1. When did the issue of competition begin?
2. With what did the problem of competition from online retailers first start?
3. What led to this issue first?
Q4:
1. Is online shopping progressing quickly?
2. Is the progress of online shopping rapid?
3. Is online shopping happening very fast?
Q5:
1. What is a safety concern with online shopping?
2. What is a safety issue people are concerned about while online shopping?
3. Why are some people hesitant to try online shopping?
Q6:
1. What makes online shopping easier?
2. What is easy about shopping online?
3. What do some find easy about online shopping?
Q7:
1. Is the overhead higher or lower with online shopping?
2. Does online shopping have higher or lower overhead?
3. Is the overhead for online shopping on the high or on the low side?
Q8:
1. What is a reason why online shopping is cheaper?
2. Shopping online is cheaper because of what reason?
3. 
Q9:
1. Why is the overhead for online shopping lower?
2. Why does shopping online have lower overhead?
3. 
Q10:
1. Who is affected the most by online shopping?
2. Who gets affected most by more people shopping online?
3. Shopping online hurts who the most?
