ir credit cards. Online gambling is legal in many countries and boasts large global participation. Currently, the use of credit cards for gambling is banned in the United States; however, online gambling site owners get around the credit card rules by using offshore accounts for credit card payments. Travel and Retail Travel and retail sites enable people to compare prices and see other consumers' reviews. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, was a pioneer in e-commerce and added online reviews to his then one-year-old site in 1995. He was inspired to let buy- ers write reviews as a competitive advantage to traditional bookstores and as a way to create a community at Amazon.com. He later expanded from books to music. 2001, he leveraged the company's billing, delivery, and reputation for good service to attract other retailers. He also added many types of merchandise such as electronics and clothing. Other online retailers and lodging sites such as TripAdvisor followed suit, giv- ing customers the ability to write reviews about products they purchase. Consumer reviews, the ability to compare prices, and convenience are reasons that many consum- ers have shifted their purchasing and travel-related booking online. This has radically changed the travel industry. Airlines need fewer agents to book flights, and revenue at travel agencies has dropped dramatically. Travelers can easily log on to the Internet at sites such as Kayak.com and Bing Travel (owned by Microsoft) to compare prices for specific routes at various airlines. Travel sites include categories for car rentals, vacation packages, and adventure travel, as well as travel advice. The majority of sites charge no fees, instead depending on advertising for revenue. The Internet E-textbooks for Colleges-Less Costly, More Functional The convenience of new multifunction tablet computers, combined with the ris- ing costs of college textbooks, are driving the increasing adoption and availabil- ity of e-textbooks. Textbook price increases are outpacing inflation an