RFID, The New Generation of Automatic Identification.
The era of scanning bar codes is almost ending and humanity is being introduced to new technology called RFID. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a technology that allows automatic identification of objects by incorporating a small electronic chip on its host. Data is stored on this chip and can then be read by wireless devices, called RFID readers. No one really notice such technology but it is actually has been around for a while, for example local turnpikes EZ-Pass Access devices. On a short distance, a tag (device that sends out the radio wave) reads the account number and grants access to precede the road. The traffic around the tollbooth has decreased down to 30% because EZ-Pass became popular among everyday users(Bonsor). Another example of RFID would be antitheft systems that are all over stores. A little microchip sticker is placed on the item, and if a thief tries to pass through the signal reader without deactivating the chip after paying at the register, the scanner creates an alarm and warns a clerk, and a thief gets caught. This new generation technology has no limits to its usage.
In the near future people are promised to make everything easier using this technology. From distant identification of a person to a shopping without standing lines because every item will be marked with such chip and will be calculated via radio signals. Unlike now when people get to work/class, they must scan-in/clock-in one ID at a time in order to prove the appearance, using RFID device all of this will not be necessary because scanner will read the multiple signals at a time within a certain distance around the reader. Lines in the stores are ridiculous around the Christmas time because clerks must scan one item at a time with a barcode scanner, but using RFID technology a customer could come to the register with a prepared bill because the reader has connected with all the items in the cart through radio waves. This way it keeps costumers satisfied with a store service and less job for clerks.
Obviously everything has its own advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage of the RFID according to the author of “Did Wal-Mart love RFID to death?” Matthew Malone, to upgrade every single Wall-Mart with such technology, the researchers predicts it will cost $75 million a year (Malone). That means every item in the store must have the chip,