Remember the days when the checkout chicks at the supermarket used to take each item you had selected read the price and key it into their cash register. Then along came bar code readers where they simply pass the product over the reader and it reads what it is an adds the cost to your bill. Ooh it was scary stuff and we took some getting used to it.
Wal-mart and Target are about to take the next step which you may find equally scary. RFID or Radio Frequency Identification. Supported by Oracle technology, RFID will allow the check to scan the contents of your trolley without you removing it. In the not too distant future you will be able to push your trolley up to the checkout. The checkout chick will press a button and say "That will be $125.37 please"
Of course the conspiracy theorists amongst the readership will note that RFID allows much more detailed tracking and analysis of your spending activities than ever before. If you pay by anything other than cash the circle will be complete. It will not be all that long before your digital television service will be able to customise its adverts for you based on you own purchasing patterns.
If you live in "the land of the free and the home of the brave" you can expect to pay more for your next passport because the US State Department is covering the costs of embedding a RFID chip in every new US passport. The chip will hold your name, date of birth, place of birth and biometric data such as finger print and iris scan data. Several US states are also embedding these chips in drivers licences.
At this stage the State Department is "considering" adding a layer of protection to the chip to restrict the devices that can read the RFID chips in your passport. If their consideration is that this will not be necessary anyone with a suitable device will be able to read this data when you are carrying your passport. You won't have to get it out of your pocket or handbag and you won't necessarily know that it has been read.
(via TheAcolyte.net and Bruce Schneier)
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Posted by: tammy at August 19, 2005 08:58 PMOOooo first, a step back
Here in the Pacific Northwest, and elsewhere I imagine, a few larger retail establishments have adopted "U-SCAN". It is exactly what the name implies.
There are four stations and a clerk kiosk.
You scan your items, the scanner is also a scale for bulk purchases.
You interface with a touch screen to make appropriate selections.
The clerk provides approvals, removes garment tags, and performs tutorials for the less experienced, you scan any coupons, member cards.
Select form of payment.
Debit/credit go through the reader, cash goes in the appropriate slots, checks go to the clerk.
Take your receipt and go.
now, stepping further out...
With RFID
You push your cart through the scanning arch
the amount shows on the touch screen
select form of payment
Of course, if you have shopped at the store previously your purchase history can be viewed. Your debit/credit numbers are on file. with the appropriate pin you could even check your available funds. you don't even have to have the card with you.
Even if you pay by check the transaction is electronic. You write the check, it is fed to the reader the reader scans the check performs the EFT and returns the check to you already cancelled.
Take your receipt and go
Cheers
B^,
Posted by: GoinStyle at August 20, 2005 12:18 AM
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