High Tech Stamps (Rfid)

Have you seen news about this patent developed by IBM;




The FreePatents Website has more info -- scroll down to Summary of the Invention.

KirkS

Boy oh boy, some days I just wish the world would slow done. Or that my brain would speed up.

I suppose a lot of this type of thing was bound to happen with the smart cart technology etc.

Should we invest in Cinderella stamps now or wait until the boom happens when there will be no more stamps issued for postal use? I think some people have done this already. Just look at the Elvis stamps and art and anything else stamps printed by the mini-sheet by countries that don't even exist. And they sell too.

The reusable part is bothersome with these RFID thingies. I hesitate to call them stamps as they don't have to be stamped or marked as used. They can be just electronically wiped clean to be made ready for reuse.

Personally I don't like the decline of manufacture and appreciation miniature art and design. And the chance to collect and appreciate a part of history.

It saddens me to think that saving a buck and speed efficiency by not having to pay a postal employee to dispense stamps is more important than having a small moment of joy in the run of a day (from looking at and learning from a stamp).

But maybe one hundred years from now (post 2012 and whatever else comes along) RFID (riffids) (?) collectors will be trying to collect and appreciate the beauty of their 'stamps'.

Reusable? You mean the Sharpie cancel will wash off? Yeah, right. Then again, by the time these are deployed, it will be down to UPS, FedEx and DHL.

What I really want to know is if they'll SOAK ?

hmm

This should be good. Is the USPS running in the red this month? No problem! Just slip in an additional five cents per letter. The customer will never notice.

Do you want to start a new business and make millions? Just hire a 16 year old computer geek to hack the USPS mainframe and sell free postage to your customers.

SWABBIE .... the man who looks for bones in Animal Crackers

hahahaha

Just reading the newish Dick Francis book and they pronounced RFIDs as arfids in that.

Swabbie makes a good point. So many watchers, but who watches the watchers? They are passive electronics so do not need a power source (like a battery). They just respond when a beam gits them. Little things encased in glass or plastic no bigger than a grain of rice.

These little things are in a lot of stuff now. Those plastic stick on things that are on products you buy and make the scanner at the store's doorway alarm or not are arfids. They put them in dogs and horses to track who they are and where they are for crossing International borders.

Stamps seem to be the next step (to some).



Then humans.
Run!

A few years ago they were touted as being the next big thing at the consumer level to help you from ever losing or misplacing anything again. Every book, keyring, trinket, etc. was going to have one, and you could scan to find anything you were looking for. You were also supposed to be able to check out at the store just by walking out the door.

We'll see. I'm with Puzzler. No thanks.

So no longer will it be the 60+ year old down in the basement with a old printing press.

But now we will have 11 and 12 year old computer hackers as the new generation of forgers.