Thanks to Wal-Mart's adoption of the technology, RFID is now heading to the top of everyone's "Must learn about this" list. Steven Shepard's book—among the first in what will surely be a long line of titles—is as good a place as any to start.
The author presents an overview of the technology in a style as suitable for CEOs as chip heads. His story begins with a broad look at how technology has driven business improvements over the last century, but he is soon on task, exploring how RFID technology is evolving, the technical roadblocks (not many), as well as social concerns (privacy, anyone?).
RFID employs radio signals to collect information from tags attached to everything from apples to zebras. For the author, RFID "is a tracking technology, no more, no less." And it has several important benefits over barcodes, which RFID is likely to replace as the prices of radio tags continue to fall. RFID tags can be scanned by readers several feet away: The tags don't have to be adjacent to the product and positioned just so, like barcodes. Also, RFID tags can collect data as well as send it. That feature helps manufacturers track their products from the manufacturing floor to the consumer's hands, increasing the efficiency of the supply chain and helping ensure the product isn't stolen or tampered with along the way.
RFID can help track people as well as things. "By encoding specific information in the memory of an RFID transponder, personnel can be tracked inside a secure facility in real time," writes Shepard. RFID is also an ideal candidate for tracking patients, organs, and blood through the healthcare system.
Although the book touches on RFID implementation issues, we wanted more—three pages under that subject heading barely scratches the surface. Yes, the issue is addressed here and there throughout the book, but we like nice tidy bundles when it comes to something so important.
Of course, every new technology brings with it its own stunning array of acronyms, so RFID's twenty-five-page appendix devoted to industry acronyms may be worth the price alone.—Sean Silverthorne