Number 2 is not really a new idea, but if you can make it work and become the default place for overseas shopping it would be a goldmine. I actually already use a service like this for video games (www.play-asia.com) since I live Japan but I want the English versions of games.
Anyway, if you go with number 2 and you need a contact in Japan, send an email my way. :)
Let's say (however unlikely) that all current languages agreed on standard, and the next release of all these languages used this standard. There would inevitably be a group of people who don't agree with the standard and so they go and write a new language that uses their preferred syntax. Now we are back where we started.
I really can't stand using an IDE, but I understand why others would. There is just too much going on and it just seems to get in my way. Give me a decent text editor and a couple terminals and I'm ready to go.
Maybe you could make some non-nerd friends and ask them for their input? Although, with the elitist attitude you exhibited in your comment, I can see how that might be difficult.