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RFID are not good enough for this application. In the end you'd still need to take the items out of the bag to scan them, as RFID blocking tech is real, and RFI
by julienb_sea 7y ago
RFID are not good enough for this application. In the end you'd still need to take the items out of the bag to scan them, as RFID blocking tech is real, and RFID at a distance doesn't work that well - especially with a lot of different RFID chips involved.
It's also very wasteful and time consuming. You'd need to chip every item in the store, which is a LOT of human labor (expensive), plus those chips are essentially throwaway which adds ongoing marginal cost - adds up over time.
Amazon's solution is more expensive to spin up, but its a fixed cost. Vastly more efficient long term and vastly more scalable than RFID.
- mkolodny 7y agoI was under the impression that Amazon is using RFID for "just walk out". They filed patents for a "shelf with integrated electronics", which mentions RFID as a potential implementation [0]. Does anyone here know for sure whether "just walk out" uses RFID? [0] https://sqoop.com/details/uspto/10064502 https://sqoop.com/details/uspto/10064502
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- Slippery_John 7y agoIf this really is the same tech they use for Amazon Go then no. I'm not sure where they would have hid an RFID chip in the single apple I picked up from their larger store a week ago.
- mkolodny 7y agoMight there have been an RFID sticker on that apple you bought? Something like this one: https://www.amazon.com/YARONGTECH-50pcs-MIFARE-Classic-adhesive-Sticker/dp/B01LZYOR7P https://www.amazon.com/YARONGTECH-50pcs-MIFARE-Classic-adhes...
- jessriedel 7y ago> RFID are not good enough for this application. In the end you'd still need to take the items out of the bag to scan them, as RFID blocking tech is real, Like, obviously customers are blocking RFIDs en masse then the tech is a non-starter. I've never heard anyone say this was a serious threat; do you have a reference? If you're just going based on some youtube video proof-of-concept: it's not at all clear that this hypothetical attacks are more realistic than hypothetical attacks I could dream up for Amazon's system. > You'd need to chip every item in the store, which is a LOT of human labor (expensive), I am not suggesting RFIDs as an alternative for Amazon's business contracting with storeowners. I am taking a society-wide view and wondering why suppliers didn't switch from barcodes to RFIDs.