Making the US Economy and RFID grow at the same time
Posted by Patrick Sweeney on Mon, Sep 05, 2011
Everyone in RFID has seen the non-stop new product releases from Chinese RFID companies. I get two or three emails a week that are usually in broken enough english to make them entertaining “Mr. Sweeney congratulations on being #1 RFID Dummie - we have great product to help you”.
The truth is that the Chinese can take nearly anything we invent in the U.S. copy it and make it significantly cheaper. 
As we have seen from lead paint laden toys- it is not always better or safer. All of us in technology have wondered why the workforce making iPods needs a safety net around their factory in China (hint: it’s not to catch iPods that mysteriously pop out an open window into the soft Beijing breeze). What ever you think of their politics and human rights there is no denying they have the labor to make the 21st century equivalent of sewing buttons on jackets at a fraction of the price of anywhere else.
I have said for a long time that the US does not need to focus on math & science in education because we can train monkeys to write code (in fact now there are programs that can write code, and it doesn’t cost you a pile of bananas). That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t train for math and science but not in a way that turns our children into automatons who follow orders. education needs to train for math and science that exposes the creative use of numbers and laws. We need to create the products - that’s the value.
The iPod is a great example - it is a multi billion dollar invention that was created in California. Sure they are put together in China, but who cares? That’s the equivalent of sewing buttons on a jacket. The real value was in the ingenuity, innovation and creativity to create something that was elegant in its user interface and easy in its adoption. The massive profits come back to the US economy.
As we celebrate Labor Day in the US we should focus our labor efforts on creativity, ingenuity, cultural diversity - all the ingredients to create true lasting value. Stimulus money to build roads and crush rocks is simply a way to give away money - it doesn’t lift the tide for everyone. Focus on invention, value creation and creativity. We need to focus on this in our education system, in our stimulus usage, and also in RFID.
Trying to use an RFID tag to replace bar codes is not the way to create value. We need to think of innovative and unique uses (like our Social Media and Facebook Social Media experiences) and you’ve got a great new use for a cool technology.
Happy Labor day - labor hard and smart and you’ll prosper. As my coach used to say if it was easy everyone could do it.