Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Latest News
    • Storage

    Wireless ID Tags Snag Tripwires of Customer Concern

    Written by

    Peter Coffee
    Published July 21, 2003
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

      The problem with putting more “I” in “IT” is the cost of paying people to do it. The initial cost of human data entry is high; the costs that result from data entry error are worse.

      When data are captured infrequently, or with long delays, or with dubious accuracy, the systems that depend on that data can approach theoretical levels of performance in every other respect and still be useless–or worse than useless, if people are so impressed by the technology that they overlook the poverty of the data that drives it. But radical improvements in data capture, even though they have the greatest leverage on overall system effectiveness, bring with them controversial issues of privacy and control.

      Its not controversial to suggest that the speed, capacity and connectedness of our systems have crossed most of the noticeable thresholds of “good enough”: Most systems today wait for people, much more than the other way around. This means that the most important remaining improvements that we can make are in the direction of giving our systems more information, in more direct and untouched-by-human-hands ways, about the real world around them. As Bill Gosper said at the MIT AI Lab, at least 30 years ago, “Why should we limit computers to the lies people tell them through keyboards?”

      And when we look at the difference between how we live today and how we lived 30 years ago, its clear that Gospers challenge has been addressed with massive investment in automating or streamlining data entry. We buy gas at the pump by swiping a magnetic-striped card, not by waiting for a person to write down a number or run a mechanical roller over a piece of carbon paper; we get our groceries tallied by a bar-code scanner, not by someone trying to read a price tag.

      What seems to many people a qualitative change, though, is the move toward wireless data collection: the transponder on the dashboard that pays your bridge or highway toll, or the wireless tags that may soon be embedded in all manner of products to monitor supply-chain activities. We have to hand someone our credit card, or be within line of sight of a bar code scanner, to grant access to personal data or to take part in a transaction; wireless technologies make that access much less apparent, even if those involved in their development promise that tags arent meant to be readableat distances of more than a meter.

      More important than questions such as Java versus .Net, 64-bit versus 32-bit, and overseas versus U.S.-based software development effort is the question of how your enterprise applications can become more powerful and more valuable by giving them better access–more immediate, more detailed and more reliable–to information on what you have, where it is and what its been doing. RFID tags can do more than say, “Here I am”; they can also provide, for example, vital data on storage and transportation conditions for valuable goods, as radio technologies are combined with increasingly cheap and rugged sensors and with other infrastructures like the Global Positioning System.

      But if you want to introduce these technologies smoothly, with high levels of customer acceptance, be sure that you dont snag the tripwires of nervousnessabout the entry of these technologies into everyday life.

      Make sure that when data about individual people are involved, the individual has adequate information about the benefits of the technology–and that individuals retain choice, whenever possible, about the degree to which they can be discovered by the machine.

      Tell me about your plans for RFID application.

      Peter Coffee
      Peter Coffee
      Peter Coffee is Director of Platform Research at salesforce.com, where he serves as a liaison with the developer community to define the opportunity and clarify developers' technical requirements on the company's evolving Apex Platform. Peter previously spent 18 years with eWEEK (formerly PC Week), the national news magazine of enterprise technology practice, where he reviewed software development tools and methods and wrote regular columns on emerging technologies and professional community issues.Before he began writing full-time in 1989, Peter spent eleven years in technical and management positions at Exxon and The Aerospace Corporation, including management of the latter company's first desktop computing planning team and applied research in applications of artificial intelligence techniques. He holds an engineering degree from MIT and an MBA from Pepperdine University, he has held teaching appointments in computer science, business analytics and information systems management at Pepperdine, UCLA, and Chapman College.

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Artificial Intelligence

      9 Best AI 3D Generators You Need...

      Sam Rinko - June 25, 2024 0
      AI 3D Generators are powerful tools for many different industries. Discover the best AI 3D Generators, and learn which is best for your specific use case.
      Read more
      Cloud

      RingCentral Expands Its Collaboration Platform

      Zeus Kerravala - November 22, 2023 0
      RingCentral adds AI-enabled contact center and hybrid event products to its suite of collaboration services.
      Read more
      Artificial Intelligence

      8 Best AI Data Analytics Software &...

      Aminu Abdullahi - January 18, 2024 0
      Learn the top AI data analytics software to use. Compare AI data analytics solutions & features to make the best choice for your business.
      Read more
      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Video

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2024 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×