Quotable: "This is a business problem being solved by technology rather than technology looking for a business problem to solve," said Raymond Blanchard, a research executive at German software maker SAP. "For the first time ever, managers and CEOs will actually understand what is going on in their enterprise. It's a whole new level of granularity--it's 100 percent certainty."
http://news.com.com/2100-1019_3-5071569.html?tag=fd_lede1_hed Retail takes stock of radio tags By Alorie Gilbert Staff Writer, CNET News.com September 8, 2003, 4:00 AM PT A technology that uses tiny devices to track everything from car tires to clothing is changing how retail businesses work and could generate billions of dollars in revenue for software makers. The technology, known as radio frequency identification (RFID), tracks retail inventories through computer networks connected with microchips "tagged" to any type of product. Each chip broadcasts a unique ID code that can yield a wealth of information, such as the item's origin, owner, location, expiration date and time of purchase. That could translate to huge savings for retail operations that currently use a variety of more labor-intensive means to track inventory. RFID also promises to deliver more accurate and detailed information. And as Wal-Mart and other retail giants buy into the RFID concept, software makers and other high-tech companies are salivating over the billion-dollar-plus prospects of this new market. "They recognize that the floodgates are about to open soon and they see a really good opportunity," said Ed Rerisi, director of research at Allied Business Intelligence, an information technology research firm in New York. [...long article...]
