Week 4: Input/Output

RFID and the E-book:

 If you've ever used an EZPass device at a road toll then you already know a little bit about how RFID works.
First, let me talk a little bit about what RFID is...
RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification and it can transmit the identity of an object or person wirelessly using radio waves. It is an Automatic Identification Technology (Auto-ID) - other examples of this type of technology are barcodes.
Now you're probably wondering how RFID technology could drastically improve the e-book experience, right? Well imagine that you walked into a bookstore with your e-book that now has a handy RFID reader attached to it, and you walk by the shelves of books looking for your next read. On each book there is an RFID tag, which when you activate your reader on the e-book it will immediately log all of the information about the book - what the story is about, author background information, ratings and reviews, etc. In addition to that, it will bring up a screen on your e-book that enables you to scroll through all the books you've scanned and buy any of those books instantly for your e-book.
Eventually as bookstores begin to become outmoded, they'll start manufacturing catalogs. These catalogs will be full of RFID tags categorized by genre, time period, and any other method you'd like. As you thumb through the catalog, when you come across a page of books that spark your interest, you can just activate the reader on your e-book and scan that page to find out which books you truly want to read from that list.
Having an RFID system with the e-book would make shopping for books hassle-free and give you more information about the books and their authors than ever before. All within one quick switch on and slight motion, you can find any information you want about a book.
Even though having RFID readers and tags in the e-book world has its perks, there are a few bugs that will need to be ironed out first with the technology. RFID has the ability to pick up information from a tag at over 100 meters away, which could make trying to scan one page of a catalog much more difficult. At this point, the technology might pick up every tag in the catalog once turned on, defeating the purpose of the selective technology. So in order for RFID to become commercialized within the e-book world, manufacturers must find a way to narrow the RFID reader to only pick up on tags close to it.
Despite the fact that this technology is still fairly new and still needs to be improved upon before being put out for commercial use with the e-book, it can be a very helpful feature for the e-book in the future.

Until next time -