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Wal*Mart continues push for RFID adoption
John3 writes "Wal*Mart is continuing to push for vendors to add RFID tags to cases of products for easier tracking through their warehouse distribution system. Most vendors have until 2006 to comply, but their top 100 suppliers must have the tags in place by 2005. Wal*Mart stopped their push for retail level tagging last summer, but by forcing tagging at the wholesale level the cost of the technology will drop as vendors comply with Wal*Mart's decree. How long before price is no longer a barrier to RFID item level tagging?"
From the article: "RFID tags contain a small chip and an antenna, usually coiled, to broadcast a signal. They were originally attached to Allied planes in World War II to distinguish them from enemy aircraft.
I find this hard to believe. Maybe they mean that the mechanism is the same ? Can somebody please shed some light on this ?
I think that RFID will easily replace the barcode within the next 2 to 3 years. Like you were asking, when is the price going to go down? Right now it's low, very low but still more than printing a barcode. RFID technology is still growing and the tags are becoming smaller. In 2 to 3 years the price will be pennies.
Don't expect retailers to adopt it right away though. People watch and follow WalMart but no one really adopts new ideas like they do. I'm not endorsing them or even condoning them, just observing. Think about other retailers, go into their stores and see what kind of registers they're running. Look at see what kind of LDT/LRTs they're running. That will give you an idea of where they're at. Registers running DB9s, DB25s, Null Modem Cables, Pentium I and II class processors and even older technology...
The point is that retailers are too slow to adapt to new technology because it cuts into their numbers.
There is a library or two in Michigan that use RFID tech on all of their books. It's great they can locate a book by running a scan for it and go to the exact location. Imagine being able to find that last can of Chicken Noodle soup. Where's my soup dammnit?!?
-Scott
Yes, we want to know whether the chips would invade customers' privacy. Yet nowhere in the article is this issue truly addressed. Privacy is again mentioned further down in the article:
RFID has a dazzling allure in the retail industry, where enthusiasts envision every product having a digital tag instead of a bar code. A can of soda, for instance, could be tracked from manufacture to warehouse to store to a customer's RFID-equipped refrigerator.
That scenario unnerves privacy advocates, who worry about a corporation's being able to track a customer's every move.
Wal-Mart's plan, thus far, is nowhere close to that vision, Dillman said in an interview at the company's northwest Arkansas headquarters.
Does the "thus far" bother you as much as it bothers me? They say that the chips will be attached to boxes/packages/crates, not individual products. Great for people who buy individual products rather than by the box or crate (yeah, some people do buy crates of pop or deodorant or whatever). And even if the chips are only on crates now, how long will it be until chips on the individual products is the rule, not the exception? Because those without chips on individual products would be deemed as "in the technological dark ages?" "Left behind?"
People say I'm crazy, I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes...
Given all of the other information about WalMart's record as an employer, I predict RFID tags will be applied to their employees' badges before they are deployed on a larger scale to individual retail items.
"Provided by the management for your protection."
Er, Slashdotters are the paranoid people who sit and look at the sky to see aliens and space elevators. They of course will assume that this tech will be abused and used to track them. Big Brother and all that jazz. The simple fact of the matter is that they're probably right. Slashdotters don't just blindly love tech. Look at the e-voting fiasco. We love tech when it's pushed in the right direction, it's not abusive to people, and especially when it runs linux.
There is more to business than just profit. If you are only after immediate profit, then you do damage to your future business by alienating your customer base. They use you because they have to, not because they want to. The US lost a big part of itself when it went away from customer service towards only low prices and screwing the consumers.
I've lived in AR and other southern states where they are all over the place...but, I've never had much need to shop there. Certainly not for things like clothes, etc.
On the other hand...I LOVE Sam's Club..the wholesaler store they run. I think everyone needs a gallon of mustard in their fridge...
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
I must have read 50 comments and not one of them was about RFID tags, which is what the post was about. Moderators should be modding these posts as Off Subject.
My two cents...
I have looked at RFID tag systems and right now they are too expensive for item level tagging. This is what Wal*Mart originally wanted to do. It's alot more efficient than bar code, but way more expensive (right now).
Then they switched to mandating pallet (or box) level tagging which is still helpful, but not very expensive.
I think if more companies use RFID for pallet level tagging the prices will come down and they can then move to item level tagging. I would guess 3-5 years befor item level tagging is affordable.
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Ok, let's take just a minute to hold off on our knee-jerk walmart bashing and think about and interesting RFID idea:
When I go to a store, what is the #1 thing I hate? Waiting in line. There is nothing worse than seeing only a few registers open with huge lines. My time is valuable. I would like to just be able to WALK OUT OF THE STORE WITH MY STUFF. Let the RFID detectors track all the merchandise, then all I have to do is show someone my credit card and ID and sign for it all.
This time savings alone would boost the economy and our standard of living -- think about how many wasted hours you've spent in lines, when you could have been spending time with your family or friends, working to get some more dough, etc.
And frankly I don't give a crap about the privacy concerns -- as long as stores still accept cash, it's the consumer's choice as to how much privacy they want. And, of course, no one is forcing anyone to go to stores whose policies they disagree with.
- jonathan.