July 31, 2006
RFID Alternatives Or Variations?
Mark Roberti, founder and editor of RFID Journal, takes exception to certain technologies such as RuBee and HP Memory Spot being labelled as alternatives to RFID. He sets the record straight that these are both RFID technologies. Fair enough.
I guess despite my own loose use of "alternative", I'd pretty much have to agree with him. But I think it's also a question of who you're writing for. For industry insiders, these technologies are viewed as being within the domain of RFID, as they probably should be. For a more general audience who might be used to slotting things into niche categories, these technologies might be perceived as being alternatives to existing RFID technology. I know I'll be more careful how I present "RFID alternatives" in the future, but I guess I've tended to use the term in a looser sense than maybe I should have.
RFID technology has a rich set of uses, so whether a related technology should be labelled as an alternative or a variation, or something else, depends on its full functionality. If it can fully (or nearly so) replace RFID systems without using the same principles, then it's an alternative. (E.g., in my opinion, VLID - Visible Light IDentification, is an alternative, but compatible to RFID.) Under that definition, many of the "alternatives" presented here are really "variations" to RFID.
If the technology in question only replaces a portion of RFID functionality, then what do you call it? My memory fails me, but I can't think of a word in English that works here. Then there are technologies that enhance RFID but are not explicitly functional alternatives.
For example, earlier posts here have covered biometric methods such as palm vein scans, I think that it's incorrect to say that they are full alternatives to RFID. RFID has far more uses than just identification, and biometrics are purely for identification. That's not to say that RFID and biometrics are not being combined.
That said, I will try to cover some more alternatives and variations to RFID in the future.
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