To someone lost in a desert, a vision of a refreshing pool of water surrounded by lush vegetation can appear on the distant horizon. The lost souls quickly become overjoyed and run recklessly toward their savior with glee and relief. In an economy thirsty for new engines of growth, some new brands of technology can play tricks on the mind, seeming like a savior but ending up being a mere mirage. RFID was predicted to be a startling new source of growth in a struggling sector. It was said that a wonderful future store would be developed where customers didn't need to stand in queues, but could let machines check out their purchases for them. The government pounced on the potential of this technology and hastily adopted it into its research and development schemes. It now seems that considering RFID a strong new engine of growth was similar to counting chickens before they are hatched. Despite promises, it has not delivered on expectations. The initial reports turned out to be false - the technology was not new.
The idea was that the technology would be able to detect an object within a 3 meter radius around the frequency of a 900 MHz band. Customers would be able to stand in front of machines and have them invisibly probe their purchases and send them on their way. No wait; no hassle. As Gladys Knight once asked, "Can It All Be So Simple" The answer now seems to be a lukewarm 'maybe'. Industry experts are now debating whether or not RFID technology will in fact be valuable as a new growth engine. New technology needs government assistance to get off the ground, and before putting funds towards development, investors need assurance that RFID will be able to fulfill its promise. As for now, there are significant wrinkles that need to be ironed out. Manufacturers say that the price of tags is prohibitively high. Store owners are also uneasy about introducing the RFID system, since RFID chips are still not able to reliably detect certain objects and wouldn't work perfectly.
At the same time, there is a problem of privacy violation, as there is a chance that shady store clerks could take advantage of the system and overcharge customers. Considering all these factors, the introduction of RFID will likely be delayed. Experts anticipate that RFID will be used restrictively on a limited variety of products. However, everyone should take a look at the reality of the situation: the government's pilot projects are mainly about system integration businesses, meaning smaller enterprises will struggle to make a profit because of competition from the bigger players. In order to sustain growth, private demand must be created, but the expected introduction time has been delayed every year, which has limited the ability of firms to create excitement around the new technology. The government has again included intentions to include RFID in its plans for new growth engine development. An infusion of money is obviously welcome by those working with RFID, but there remain problems with the technology that will need more than money to be solved. Even with new capital, there is still skepticism, as many wonder if the introduction time can actually be advanced. Moreover, in this climate of economic crisis, are companies willing to invest huge sums of money to install RFID in stores Technology that is rejected by the market never matures the market. We need to decide if RFID is the refreshment we have all been looking for, or if it is just another mirage.
