RFID
In the late ‘80s, I first started writing and speaking about the use of wireless chips that would be used to both identify and track items ranging in size from credit cards to shirts to shipping pallets.
The technology is known as RFID, radio frequency identification. It is sometimes referred to as a “tag,” and it employs miniature circuitry that includes an antenna and an identification code. Tags can be made so small and durable that they can be embedded into just about anything and can be used to both locate and provide information about the object to which they are attached.
Today, in the United States alone, ten million motorists already use a small E-Zpass tag attached to their windshields, allowing them to drive through toll booths without stopping, paying electronically. An additional six million people use Speedpass keychain, based on the same wireless technology, to quickly pay for gasoline at the pump. The U.S. military made extensive and highly successful use of tracking tags to speed logistics during the war in Iraq.
A tag can contain information about a product, where it was manufactured, its shipping history, and the date and time it went through a store’s checkout. The uses are almost unlimited.
For example, tags are embedded on marathon runners’ shoes to record their race times; sales people can use a hand-held scanner to get information from a tagged item and tell customers the designer and fabric used; tag readers in dressing rooms track what items people try on and are linked to a flat panel display that shows alternative, matching items or accessories.
Keeping Track of You?
Recently, RFID has raised concerns that it could be used to keep track of the behaviors of consumers and that retailers could use this information without your knowledge.
However, the benefits of RFID technology on the supply chain alone are so great that industry leaders are working together to establish guidelines designed to eliminate those concerns and gain the trust of the public. For example, retailers will most likely install a sensor at checkout that will disable the tag after a purchase.
Tracking Flash Points
From an investment standpoint, it is a good idea to keep track of technologies nearing flash point because when they reach it, they take off.
Daniel Burrus, one of the world's leading technology forecasters, business strategists, and author of six books
Copyright 2004 Author retains copyright. All Rights Reserved.
