I didn't blog much yesterday because I was researching the state of play in Always On. (The illustration is from Georgia Tech.)
I had a book proposal before Wiley rejected out of hand. But when I then suggested to step back and do a book on RFID for the home, I got real interest. Just make it a hands-on book, I was told.
Thus, the research.
As regular readers here know well there are many Always On application spaces, that is, functions fit for wireless networking applications.
- Medical monitoring
- Home Automation
- Entertainment
- Inventory
Absent this understanding that a unified platform already exists so that all these applications can be created together, what is the state of play specifically regarding Radio Frequency Identification? (Or, if you prefer, spychips, although since I'm talking about home applications you're spying on yourself.)
Unfortunately it is home automation, a relatively low value application space, where we see the most complete implementation of the Always On idea.
There's actually an Always On company, Homeseer, promoting a platform that can implement security, energy, and entertainment applications. (Here, buy the starter kit.) Dig a little deeper and you find they haven't really gotten far. The promise is there, but right now they're just talking about linking lights and things to your PC -- big deal.
To me the true killer apps have always been medical, and Harvard CIO David Ewalt agrees, to the point where he's actually had an RFID chip implanted in his biceps to record his medical history. The trouble is that when such chips are turned into systems, as at MedicTouch, they're built around costly, low-bandwidth cellular networks. One reason for that is, as in Intel's CareNet trial, most seniors (the prime market) don't have DSL.
So here's the bottom line, for now. You can mess around with this stuff. The promise, the parts, the applications are all there. You can write a book about RFID in the Home, for the hobbyist, and even implement a few things.
But until someone comes across with the full vision, and commercializes a platform that can work in any application space, Always On will remain a game for futurists.
Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for over 25 years and has covered the online world professionally since 1985. He founded the "Interactive Age Daily" for CMP Media, and has written for the Chicago Tribune, Advertising Age, and dozens of other publications over the years.
1. Lyle Clarke on May 18, 2005 06:28 PM writes...
My take is that the future will be realised through two main waves. Firstly a logistics driven business to business wave spreading RFID love every which way but with little control or direct benefit to the man on the street. This will put the tags, and to a degree, the related metadata etc. out there. There will then be a bunch of tinkering, hacking, scripting and evangelism by those who can.
Then the second wave will start when eventually "someone who comes across with a full vision" based on not just technology, but a 'trustworthiness accounting'. This someone will make RFID benefits attainable for most everyone and create a platform, which turns out to be a market, and their brandname will turn into a noun.
When the first wave will happen is a mathematics problem, i.e. when will RFID be so cheap that it is irresponsible to not use? The second wave is being plotted already on a hundred fronts. My bet is that it will start in the kitchen and spread from there.
Lyle
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