

10 Uses of RFID Tags - aneesh
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/17-03/st_best

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tom_rath
They've missed my favourite: Tagging groceries for automated billing.

I'm going to love walking out of a store without needing to wait in line for a
cashier first.

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Brushfire
Yes, but I would hate to be the guy forced to tag all the oranges. or steaks.
or heads of lettuce.

Obviously, I'm being a little facetious. I love the idea of walking in and out
on credit (although the privacy implications bother me), but I still havent
figured out a way that they can do fresh produce without completely revamping
how it is sold. I suppose you could go to an honor system where people bag and
then print label/rfit sticker.

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dmix
The chips could be inserted automatically by machine when the product is being
assembled at the manufacturers expense. I could see Home Depot or a similar
big box company, who have quite a bit of influence over manufacturers, making
that a requirement.

The cost might be a trade-off if customer satisfaction is boosted.

Although that might be impractical for grocery stores or smaller items (small
fruit, nails, etc).

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yters
Maybe the cost savings of tagging the more expensive items can make paying for
the cheaper items part of an honor system. I.e. pay $X monthly to have
unlimited access to item Y.

Or, untagged items are locked. They are unlocked with a credit card, and the
weight difference is billed to the card.

Those are just a couple off the top of my head. I suspect there are many
creative ways to deal with untagged items.

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yters
The problem with ideas like RFID is that without a global method of tracking
people a global government is unworkable. However, once we can electronically
track everyone, then global government becomes much more feasible.

That being said, I doubt RFID actually can allow global tracking. The
infrastructure cost and maintenance to make that happen is way too high, and
not worthwhile.

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chanux
And when you want to go against those 10 uses and any other possible uses...

[https://events.ccc.de/congress/2005/static/r/f/i/RFID-
Zapper...](https://events.ccc.de/congress/2005/static/r/f/i/RFID-
Zapper\(EN\)_77f3.html)

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zacharypinter
Why does it not surprise me that Britain wants to tag prisoners?

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aneesh
One thing that surprised me was that so many of these uses are tagging living
beings, rather than inanimate objects.

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russell
Being chipped so the club can automatically charge your drinks? God no. Being
chipped so the police can track you after your are kidnapped? I dont think I
want to live there. Chipping sponges so the surgeons can retrieve them? That
makes sense.

