Discussion on:

Did Wal-Mart love RFID to death?

The big reason that RFID tech didn't take over widely is stated quite properly...there's no good reason to change from an exiting printed code version which has been steadily improving over decades and operates at a lower cost.

When it became possible to print RFID tags a few years back, which would reduce costs 90%, they still were more expensive than the existing system, which already has an infrastructure in place.

As we convert to 3-D printing technology, the number of consumer items actually shipped may drop considerably--already logistics is the largest cost of some items (after advertising.)

We moved out of a scarcity based economy decades ago--most scarcities from energy to clean water and medical care are artificially created in order to line some group's pockets...largely because if you grew up in a scarcity economy, it's very difficult to understand a world based upon abundance.

We've known how to recover solar power in space and send it to Earth since 1975.

Had we begun construction of the infrastructure at that time, the USA would, today, be a net exporter of energy and our hydrocarbon usage would primarily be as feed stocks for production of goods. We could be producing all of our energy needs and more without using any nuclear, oil, gas, coal, hydro sources at all.

But that would devastate the industrial bases and employment centered upon the hydrocarbon industry, and our society has yet to come to terms with the fact that only a tiny percentage of our work force is actually engaged in any essential activities and our self-worth system is still largely based upon 'no job. no worth.'

The next 15 years are about coming to terms with living in a society of abundance rather than a zero-sum game of 'I win. You must lose.' The new rules permit everyone to win.

The big reason that RFID tech didn't take over widely is stated quite properly...there's no good reason to change from an exiting printed code version which has been steadily improving over decades and operates at a lower cost.

When it became possible to print RFID tags a few years back, which would reduce costs 90%, they still were more expensive than the existing system, which already has an infrastructure in place.

As we convert to 3-D printing technology, the number of consumer items actually shipped may drop considerably--already logistics is the largest cost of some items (after advertising.)

We moved out of a scarcity based economy decades ago--most scarcities from energy to clean water and medical care are artificially created in order to line some group's pockets...largely because if you grew up in a scarcity economy, it's very difficult to understand a world based upon abundance.

We've known how to recover solar power in space and send it to Earth since 1975.

Had we begun construction of the infrastructure at that time, the USA would, today, be a net exporter of energy and our hydrocarbon usage would primarily be as feed stocks for production of goods. We could be producing all of our energy needs and more without using any nuclear, oil, gas, coal, hydro sources at all.

But that would devastate the industrial bases and employment centered upon the hydrocarbon industry, and our society has yet to come to terms with the fact that only a tiny percentage of our work force is actually engaged in any essential activities and our self-worth system is still largely based upon 'no job. no worth.'

The next 15 years are about coming to terms with living in a society of abundance rather than a zero-sum game of 'I win. You must lose.' The new rules permit everyone to win.