Editor's Note: This story was originally posted in the January 2004 issue of Scientific American.
Thirteen years ago, in an article for Scientific American, the late Mark Weiser, then my colleague at Xerox PARC, outlined his bold vision of “ubiquitous computing”: small computers would be embedded in everyday objects all around us and, using wireless connections, would respond to our presence, desires and needs without being actively manipulated. This network of mobile and fixed devices would do things for us automatically and so invisibly that we would notice only their effects. Weiser called such systems “calm technology,” because they would make it easier for us to focus on our work and other activities, instead of demanding that we interact with and control them, as the typical PC does today.
In a home equipped with this kind of technology, readers strategically placed in the bedroom, the bathroom door frame, the stairwell and the refrigerator would detect the identifying data in microchip tags sewn into your clothes and embedded in the packaging of foods and send the data to a home computer, which would take action based on that information.
The computer would notice as you got out of bed in the morning and would switch on the coffeemaker. As you entered the bathroom, the shower would come on, adjusted to your favorite temperature. When you started down the stairs, the preloaded toaster would heat up so that your breakfast would be done just the way you like it. When you opened the refrigerator, the appliance would remind you that you were out of milk and that the tub of coleslaw inside had passed its expiration date and should be thrown out.
Today systems based on radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology are helping to move Weiser’s vision closer to reality. These systems consist of tags (small silicon chips that contain identifying data and sometimes other information) and of readers that automatically receive and decode that data.
The responsive RFID home—and conference room, office building and car—are still far away, but RFID technology is already in limited use. The tags, often as small as a grain of rice, now hide in ID cards and wristbands, windshieldmounted toll tags, gasoline quick-purchase tokens, and electronic ear tags for livestock, and they have begun to appear in auto key-chain antitheft devices, toys (Hasbro Star Wars figures) and other products. They have also timed runners in road races, and last year a company in Mexico began a service to implant tags under the skin of children as an antikidnapping measure.
In the near term, RFID tags will probably be found in airline luggage labels (British Airways has conducted extensive trials), and they may eventually be embedded in paper currency to inhibit counterfeiters and enable governments to track the movement of cash. (Hitachi in Japan recently announced that it has developed tags minute enough for this application.) Meanwhile the retail, security, transportation, manufacturing and shipping industries are all testing or starting to implement sophisticated RFID applications.
But the RFID revolution is not without a downside: the technology’s growth raises important social issues, and as RFID systems proliferate, we will be forced to address new problems related to privacy, law and ethics. Controversy has already erupted: in mid-2003 two major retailers—Wal-Mart in the U.S. and the international clothing maker Benetton— canceled large-scale tests of in-store RFID-centered inventory control systems apparently partly as a response to public reactions that raised the specter of wholesale monitoring of citizens through tags embedded in consumer products.
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3 Comments
Add CommentI guess I am not understanding what the problem is...if you are not doing anything wrong, what's the concern? Shield the RFID that has personally identifiable material so it's not usable without our consent. How hard can it be? Remember how careful we have to be with the magnetic strips on credit cards?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLike a previous post stated- if you don't want to be identified, better not have ANY kind of a telephone. No credit cards, no computers. No SS Number. If you are using electricity, then it's already too late. "They" know who you are, and if you are THAT paranoid, I feel very sorry for you. Move to Montana, live like a Mountain Man and enjoy your very uncomfortable life. I am not doing anything that would be of any interest to anyone, so why on earth would anyone want to know what I do, what I eat, etc. So what? Let "them". If they want to waste their time trying to sell stuff to me when I am strong enough to just say "no"?
I think it's silly to waste time on something so trivial, something that can do so much GOOD, and actually lower costs of goods?
Stay with me here...How about a time when you never have to wait at a check out line again? Sound like heaven? That's what RFID can do. You register once, give them a credit/debit card and your personal data is kept secure. RFID tags should be in every product you purchase and when you remove the sheath that is covering your RFID store card you simply exit the store it's all instantly tallied and paid for. I bet this would cut at least 30 minutes off a weekly shopping trip, not to mention the aggravation.
Lighten up people, it's not going to be that bad. Change is hard, but you will get over it.
Keep dreaming. If you discover that a human being is more than just a node on a network diagram to be shuffled and tracked by human network administrators with unlimited and unaccountable powers- who, by the way, will be the architects of your digital wanderings in a world surrendered in the name of petty convenience... Well then- chances are- you'll have your chip turned off. Life will be so convenient, automatic and 'super-awesome' for every other half-wit still plugged in, that no one will care to hear your thoughts contrary to what is prescribed for the digital herd to consume until its too late for any legitimate challenge.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou would be a fool to deny the potential evil of a currency issued by the few that is tracked, controlled and manipulated from which the people are ignorant. We already have such a system, and it has built itself many industrial complexes which must be fed through perpetual wars, exploitation, incarceration, and the stagnation of intellectual development concerning individuals inside the system. You talk about a Social Security Number as if it is a matter of choice, but its not. Its an artificial womb created to transform the American household into an economic factory. And what you are advocating is its grand perfection.
Before you tell me that Im paranoid and fearful of shadows. I will tell you that I have no fear of these misanthropic men devoid of humanity; and I know what I am talking about.
The reason that I have left you a reply in such a tone is that& This is not a joke, and this isnt to be taken lightly.
You don't get to tell ME or ANYONE ELSE to go live in the mountains simply because we dont want to get chipped, so that YOU can to chop off 30 minutes of the ridiculously stupid American consumption/shopping adventure. This country was founded by great men, with greater ideals for humanity. We can turn this nonsense around if people begin to take responsibility for themselves. But you, Miss, are grossly deluded when you praise your strength to say No , which is actually a freedom given to you by those aforementioned great men with a vision& All while wishing it away the next.
We started checking out the RFID options for the small manufacturing company where I work, but in the end decided to go with a simpler <a href="http://www.kzsoftware.com/products/asset-management-software/">Fixed Asset Register system</a>. I hope we see the day when this can be integrated with RFID, but for now, this simple system works well for us.
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