Internet of things - Even Us
Saturday, June 21st, 2008
A week ago in my Internet Business class we talked about the “Internet of Things”. Currently the Internet connects anyone at a computer, cellphones, wifi connections… It is now even begining to connect cars (I was amazed the first time I saw a car unlocked by OnStar). This is all just the beginning of what some call the Internet of things. Imagine if your waterbottle, or your money for that matter, had a radio chip (as thin as paper) that could work almost like a GPS. Although your waterbottle is not connected to the Internet, the Internet is connected to your water bottle.
So a waterbottle is kind of extreme, but it is not far from where we are headed. From what I understand pretty much every thing will be tagged with a new generation of bar codes. It is obvious that anyone with a marketing mind was absent when they gave these new bar codes the extremely catchy name: “Radio-frequency identification devices” or RFID´s.
These little RFIDs have some merit. Large enterprises will be able to use RFIDs to greatly enhance logistics and inventory turnover. They will illiminate the need for cashiers because you will just push your shopping cart of goods past some scanners and your total price will show up. I could list a thousand ways these could be used and not even come close to imagining the innovations that will take place.
We are already in the first stages fo these RFIDs or related tools. Toll booths use them for the “easy pass” system. Pharmicies are starting to use them to prevent counterfit perscriptions. They are used in ski passes, cell phones, beach clubs like the Baja Beach Club etc…These are all sensible and will make life better, but there is a potential dark side to these chips.
What happens when you start tagging people with these “bar codes”? No kidding, it is already happening:
In class we talked about how it is already being applied to children in schools, and will not be long before applied drivers licences, passports, and even cash.It brought to my mind Mel Gibson in Consperiacy Theory (he talks about it 2:50 seconds into this little clip on Youtube).
After we got done discussing this RFID in class I raised my hand and asked, “Does this make anyone think of the John in the Book of Revelations?” Only one other person in class even knew of the referance I was speaking of and he had not made any connection. Here is the famous verse of scripture:
” And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name… If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his han…” (references here and here).
I am not saying that RFID is the mark. I know people in our grandparents time said it was SSNs. I believe this scripture, but I think it will not just be the “number” because many numbers and organization can be used to move forward the Lord´s work, but I cannot help but think of this mark when I hear about the RFID in humans.
Here is another video from CNN:
Another question I have. We are all born with unique identifiers (our eyes, our finger prints, DNA…) why on earth do we need an RFID chip. We have the technology to scan eyes from billboards to see how long they look at the billboard and how many people look at it, if this kind of identifier is needed, why not just stick with the identifiers that God gave us? AND no, instilling fear in me that I might have a heart attack and my RFID could save my life is not enough, if I am having a heart attack and i am alone, I will probably have time to dial 911 on my cell. If the doctor needs my medical records he should certainly be able to get them through a simple eye scan.
As Seth Godin put it so well: “This is going to happen. The only question is whether you are one of the people who will make it happen. I guess there’s an even bigger question: will we do it right?”