RFID Consumer Benefits
...tomers, i.e. Wal-Mart and Target, will be able to track their RFID Consumer Benefits 3 inventories of the manufactures product better to ensure that their products are always in stock, thus more sales and revenue. Time savings are another advantage to the RFID technology. Can you imagine checking out of you favorite store by just walking by the cash register? How about trying on some new cloths and not having to worry about those pesky security devices? This is all a reality once the RFID technology becomes main stream. Prescription drug authentication is another area that the RFID technology will have a great impact. What would you do if you were in an auto accident and the prescription of pain relievers you were given by your doctor did nothing? They run tests and a weak later, still in pain, you find out the drugs were sugar pills, not the much needed pain relievers you needed. The FDA is making sure this does not happen. “Backed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, RFID is being introduced to combat counterfeit drugs through better tracking of products in the pharmaceutical pipeline” (Bell, 2004, 4). Illegal dealings of drugs can be caught and reported to law enforcement more easily with the help of the RFID technology (Bell, 2004). With the help of the RFID technology we all can ensure that bogus drugs do not end in our hands. Do you know someone that is visually impaired? Have you ever wondered how a visually impaired person reads their prescription bottles and drug caution papers received from the pharmacy? “The ScripTalk Audible Prescription system, which uses radio frequency identification (RFID) technology…” (Thompson, 2005 8) is a system that will reads a microchip in a prescription bottle to tell the patient the “…drug name, instructions for use, special warnings, beyond use date, prescriber name, pharmacy phone number and prescription number” (Thompson, 2005 9). This is a huge advancement for someone with a visual RFID Consumer Benefits 4 impairment. The safety this device represents means that a patient with a visual impairment would be able to hear what prescription they are holding. The airports are the next area where RFID technology is making life a little less chaotic. Have you ever heard of lost baggage horror stories? RFID tags placed on your luggage will be able to tell the airport staff where your bag is located at all times. Imagine that your luggage would be lost and found and you still had your luggage in hand when you went to get it. “Atlanta-based Delta said the technology will enable it to discover mishandled luggage, in many cases, before the customer is aware the bag is missing” (Murray, 2004, 5). Security at airports has been a concern for everyone since 9-11. RFID technology can help with this as well. If you are a frequent flyer you could sign up for a program that would let you board your plane through an exclusive line. For this faster more secure process the passenger would provide the airline with personal information and a background check would be performed (Shah, 2004). If you hate those long boarding lines, this would be a great way to stop waiting and make the airport a little more bearable. Theft prevention is an area that the RFID technology can also help. If someone would try to take a product from a store that still has...