When is RFID coming to the consumer market?

[JEDI]

Wiki

There's lots of things i want to tag in my house.

it's a good lazy way of keeping track of stuff in my house.

When will it go from big corps (Walmart) to end users using it?

 

[slackwarelinux]

Never?

We've had barcodes for awhile, there isn't much of a market for consumers scanning those into their own databases and internets.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: slackwarelinux
Never?

We've had barcodes for awhile, there isn't much of a market for consumers scanning those into their own databases and internets.

but barcodes arent that useful.

rfid = location of item in addition to cataloging it

 

[slackwarelinux]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: slackwarelinux
Never?

We've had barcodes for awhile, there isn't much of a market for consumers scanning those into their own databases and internets.

but barcodes arent that useful.

rfid = location of item in addition to cataloging it

mmmwha?

RFID readers tend not to have a very far effective range, at least the cheap ones don't.
How would RFID tags keep track of location? Place an expensive RFID reader on every part of a shelf, network them all, and tie that in with a computer?

You could buy a lot of tacos with that much money.

Edit:
And how aren't barcodes useful? I'd imagine that consumer RFID tags would passive, meaning, their content is static and pre-determined. Using active (changeable) RFID tags to keep track of cans of soup would mean spending more on RFID tags than soup, and you'd have to replace the batteries of the tags.

 

[ChaoZ]

Barcodes aren't useful for personal use because you have to find the item which defeats the purpose the op wants to do.

 

[slackwarelinux]

Originally posted by: ChaoZ
Barcodes aren't useful for personal use because you have to find the item which defeats the purpose the op wants to do.

Eh?

What do you mean "you have to find the item"?
If you mean track the location inside the house, then RFID tags would not do that, unless they were very expensive, and there were many readers inside the house, which is very expensive. The readers would all have to network to some sort of controller, which is expensive.

If you mean know the barcodes on items, then, there are consumer barcode databases on the internet.

Creating new barcodes with arbitrary content isn't really an issue with a printer either.

 

[Analog]

RFIDs are already in the consumer market - they protect the retailers from shoplifting. Have been for quite a while.

 

[WildHorse]

``

 

[MetalMat]

RFID is pretty expensive, thats why.

 

[NanoStuff]

Originally posted by: MetalMat
RFID is pretty expensive, thats why.

It's not 1968 anymore. RFID tags are cheaper than wheat.

 

[Analog]

Originally posted by: NanoStuff

Originally posted by: MetalMat
RFID is pretty expensive, thats why.

It's not 1968 anymore. RFID tags are cheaper than wheat.

true, I can buy them for about 25 cents each in low quantity.

 

[slackwarelinux]

Originally posted by: Analog

Originally posted by: NanoStuff

Originally posted by: MetalMat
RFID is pretty expensive, thats why.

It's not 1968 anymore. RFID tags are cheaper than wheat.

true, I can buy them for about 25 cents each in low quantity.

Yeah, but passive tags would not seem to be much of an advantage over barcodes for home use, and barcodes cost a fraction of a cent.

If you're talking about active RFID tags for 25 cents each, please send a link, I'd be interested in playing with them at that price.

 

[Rubycon]

It would be nice to find a pair of slippers in the morning. :laugh:

 

[slackwarelinux]

Originally posted by: Rubycon
It would be nice to find a pair of slippers in the morning. :laugh:

How do RFID tags magically help people find things?

 

[Canai]

Originally posted by: slackwarelinux

Originally posted by: Rubycon
It would be nice to find a pair of slippers in the morning. :laugh:

How do RFID tags magically help people find things?

You can triangulate the location of any tag. I'd like to get my keys tagged heh.

edit: I think anyway. I read something about it being used for shoplifting, and the article said they could track the items through the store.

 

[Lounatik]

I am a food vendor and Wal Mart is already starting to put up RFID trackers (antennae?) up all over the back of their stores. Each receiving dock has a reader on either side of the door, as you walk into receiving either by way of the back like outside or through the swing doors on the inside there are sets of readers. At the garbage compactor there is one as well as by the freezers and dairy coolers. I guess their goal is to be able to track an item from the time it comes into the store until it leaves. Either by the front door or out the back. I know that they had my company put an RFID chip in one of our products to test about two years ago, and I think that they are going to require all of their vendors to have them soon.


Peace

Lounatik

 

[Locut0s]

Not until the cost per product is under 1cent or so will you see them in your average consumer product as a replacement for bar codes. They are already used for tracking bulk quantities of product though and have other uses like preventing shoplifting like Analog mentions. But until the cost of adding them to packaging is just about negligible we aren't going to be seeing them on every tin of soup and on ever chocolate bar wrapping. I would see them in higher end product packaging soon though. What Lounatik is talking about is Walk Mart using them to track containers or skids of products not quite at the individual product level yet.

 

[slackwarelinux]

Originally posted by: Canai

Originally posted by: slackwarelinux

Originally posted by: Rubycon
It would be nice to find a pair of slippers in the morning. :laugh:

How do RFID tags magically help people find things?

You can triangulate the location of any tag. I'd like to get my keys tagged heh.

edit: I think anyway. I read something about it being used for shoplifting, and the article said they could track the items through the store.

Cool, I didn't know that :thumbsup: I stand pretty corrected

 

[redly]

got any links to RFID readers??
Legit ones, no gadget sites

 

[slackwarelinux]

Originally posted by: redly
got any links to RFID readers??
Legit ones, no gadget sites

SparkFun has some, but you'll need some basic electronics knowledge to do anything useful with it.