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CHARGE IT--AND SIGN ON THE SCREENNEXT TIME YOU CHARGE A purchase at a store, you may end up signing a computer screen instead of a paper slip. PenWare Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., has created a credit-card terminal that lets retailers eliminate paper receipts--and save a bundle in handling costs. The $800 PenWare 3000 is a book-size computer with a pressure-sensitive backlit screen and a credit-card swiper down one side. Your John Hancock is captured electronically using an untethered stylus and stored digitally in a database. Although PenWare 3000 costs about four times as much as current credit card terminals, the company argues that the machine will pay for itself quickly in more accurate transactions and reduced record-keeping expenses. PenWare officials say major chains are currently evaluating the device. But soon stores could encounter a new problem: How to keep customers from accidentally walking away with the $3 stylus. EDITED BY AMY CORTESE By Andy Reinhardt
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Updated June 14, 1997 by bwwebmaster
Copyright 1996, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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