Company Designs "Big Brother Chip"

Taco Cowboy writes "Here comes a chip that can pinpoint you in-door and out, it can even tell others on which floor of a building you are located. It's the Broadcom 4752 chip. It takes signals from global navigation satellites, cell phone towers, and Wi-Fi hot spots, coupled with input from gyroscopes, accelerometers, step counters, and altimeters The company calls abilities like this 'ubiquitous navigation,' and the idea is that it will enable a new kind of e-commerce predicated on the fact that shopkeepers will know the moment you walk by their front door, or when you are looking at a particular product, and can offer you coupons at that instant."

Comments

Potato, potato

[samazon]

When you say "coupons" I hear "pushy advertisements."

Re:Potato, potato

[s0nicfreak]

Many reasons, including but not limited to: If you like the product, you may buy another when you don't have a coupon. You may recommend it to friends, who may buy it without the coupon. Many people think they are too cool to use coupons, and will purposely forgo the coupons.

Engineering oppression

[DigiShaman]

Growing up in the 80s, living through the boom times of the 90s, and looking back today. What I used to think was was a path to freedom and salvation of the intellectual variety, I now see as our oppression. Slavery of a new type. Step by step we are sealing our own doom while at the same time handing over the keys to a new elite. The social consolidation is giving rise to the new aristocrats.

I really hope I'm wrong.

Re:Engineering oppression

[Opportunist]

Well, from my history book I learned what happens after they piss off the peasants too much.