Mark Roberti from RFID Journal lauds the virtues and values of RFID tagging. If you know anything about RFID tags already, his pitch won’t tell you anything new. He actually says that RFID tags eliminate human error (why say “eliminate” when you can more truthfully and plausibly say “reduce”?). And the human error that persists through the data cycle will be less corrigible to the extent that managers tend to regard data derived from RFID tagging as less subject to error. I’m not opposed to RFID tags; I’m opposed to hype, and cautious about a data-generation tool that extends far beyond mere inventory control.
Mark points out that RFID tags provide a way to automate sorting, shipping, tracking, and billing in a way coherent with the XML-based protocols that Phil explained in the morning session. Again, though: "You have just taken all the human error out of the system." He’s mostly just citing inventory-control cases, though the particular benefit in each case differs. Non-standard uses: locating and tracking the medication of wounded soldiers in battle, and keeping track of the relative heat of tires (to prevent blowouts).
Ooops! Now that we’re coming to the end of the presentation, Mark acknowledges that RFID isn’t infallible after all; the actual operation of tags varies depending on their physical context (not surprisingly, metallic and aqueous environments deflect and absorb radio waves), and the speed at which a reader can pick up tags doesn’t always equal the speed at which an operator pushes a pallet past a reader, or the speed at which a manager needs a pallet to leave a building.
Mark is not worried about the privacy implications of RFID; he’s confident that business practices will protect individuals (banning an offending operator from using the Obect Naming Service that tracks RFID). Hey, no business would take a chance like that, would they?
Posted by AKMA at October 15, 2003 03:35 PM | TrackBack