Reading an article on RFIDs, those wonderful little things that will surely be used for everything, next year (like smart cards), I came across this gem:
"Nokia (the largest cellphone manufacturer in the world) is about to release a cellphone that incorporates an RFID reader based on the ISO 14443 standard. The combination allows callers to scan posters and stickers that contain an embedded tag and buy the depicted products with the charge appearing automatically on their next phone bill."
Nokia have experimented with payment systems before, using their cellphones to bill for carwashes and cokes. This makes a lot of sense, as the mobile phone operators have the billing, the communications, and also a secure (to them) token in the hands of the consumer.
It's also in accord with Frank Trotter's observation that the three sectors best placed to develop new payment systems are telcos, couriers and ISPs. One to watch.
Posted by iang at October 29, 2004 05:41 AM | TrackBackI for one do not enjoy the prospects of someone with the ability to detect where I might be based on an undisclosed locator in my underwear. So the only true privacy will be naked out in the woods somewhere if there are any woods left. Will we embed RFÏD into children at birth and maintain a reading of their worth based on some far off database of kind dictators? I think that goods and services will suffer without a human touch. Stores without clerks and purchases without the tactile sense of touch what a way to buy an onion or a tomato for that matter. What if the coding is wrong will they toss the lot of apples out of the cart? I think that spoilage of produce and other items of commerce based on RFID thingies being placed in them will create toxic waste in land fills. So what are the enviromental implications of RFID devices?
Posted by: Jimbo at October 29, 2004 12:28 PM