Get Ready For the High-tech Beach

coondoggie writes "Ocean City, New Jersey is a nice, family-oriented beach that will apparently soon be the high-tech model for seashore lovers and now perhaps geeks everywhere. The city has on its plate a $3 million plan for myriad public services and Internet access using radio-frequency identification chips (RFID) and Wi-Fi wireless technology. A wireless network will let Ocean City expand economic development and control the cost of local services. Wireless allows the City to save on cell phone usage, T-1 lines, and it adds efficiency. The city is looking to replace its ubiquitous but mostly annoying beach tags — which indicate you paid to get on the beach $5 per day, $10 for a week, or $20 for the whole summer — with wristbands that contain an RFID chip. Yet another cool feature of the high-tech beach will be the ability to track beachgoers — an application that is being touted by parents."

Comments

Pay to go to the beach

[mgblst]

I must have misread this, surely you don't have to pay to go the beach. The article has an interview with someone, who finds it disgraceful that people would try to sneak onto the beach for free?? This is a joke surely. Coming from Australia, where the beaches are bountiful, beautiful and free, this is the biggest disgrace I have ever heard off.

Even with wifi!

You have to pay to go to the beach ?!?

[dargaud]

Subject says it all. Hard to believe.

OT: Why are you charging to go to the beach?

[QX-Mat]

Maybe I completely missed the point in capitalism 101, but why do you have to pay to go to the beach?

With the exception of a few private beaches attached to sea-side hotels, I don't think I've ever, or will ever, pay to go to a beach. The concept sounds ridiculous to my European brain :(

Matt

pay to get on public property?!?!?

[mwilliamson]

As a Texan I must say I would NEVER pay for my RIGHT to be on PUBLIC PROPERTY. I can see paying to bring my car along with and I have no problem with that, but to change people to be on the beach is an outrage.

WTF??? pay to get on the PUBLIC beach?

[Lumpy]

Jebus! New Jersey is screwed up. Here in Michigan we have 60 times the coastline that NJ has and we dont gouge our residents by charging for beach access.

how about not wasting money on stupid crap instead of finding different ways to suck money out of the residents.

what's next? an Air tax? Charging the family $25.00 per person that breathes inside the state. you get a $50.00 fine of you dont have your breathing bracelet.