A friend from college actually built the second idea for a senior design project. It worked out pretty well and he didn't spend too much money on the components. The tag was on the box or bag it came in since you can't place an RFID tad in the microwave.

The hardware was pretty straight forward, but assembling the data was the limiting factor. Luckily for him he didn't have to do too many products to demonstrate.

So there's sort of a Catch-22 here: Companies will only go through the effort of adding their products to your database if there is customer demand and customers will only want it if there are a lot of products in your database.

"it would be between the fabric so you would never know "
Just wanted to know if this will be available for socks in the future =)

RFID socks... geee...where have I heard that before? ah yes, Joyce. ...

Saigon, you sure do seem to know a lot about Joyce's ideas =) ;)

Yeah I agree with the Catch-22 and the RFID would only be on the box not on the food's container. All you'd have to do is swipe and then everything would be sent to the microwave. Also, now microwaves are trying to "smart" and tell *ME* what to do. So I guess the container could also send instructions like "Vent container", "Mix potatoes", "Eat and ENJOY!", "I can see you...eat that broccoli" and slowly but surely the revolution is coming.

@Catch-22 Situation: Well if microwave makers were convinced to add a simple reader to each of their microwaves for a fraction of the cost the rest would follow. Since some tech-advanced product supplier would realize the potential and start this trend. I do think that the suitcase idea would work better though which is why it's first.

Suitcase could work. So could the microwave.

I would think for the suitcase you might have to worry about electronic interference. My cellular phone makes my TV and clock radio go nuts. I imagine an RFID reader might do the same. I know there will be protective foil, I have taken my phone apart and there is metal shielding there too....

You're idea is on the right track, but you need momentum.....
Tommy

I don't think I would use the Aluminum Foil but some kind of material that destroys RFID Signal outside itself. I don't think the reader would interfere with your products maybe the RFID but not the reader. I just want to put something so that someone with a malicious individual with a high powered RFID doesn't know what's in your suitcase. Plus everyone wants the perception of some level of privacy.

@vanhees: I think the suitcase would gain momentum quickly since many new products are coming RFID enabled. However, I would need to create an RFID tagger that could tag everything that a person might want to put in the suitcase.

I think your big obstacle would be Security scanners at airports would not like the foil idea for sure, or any "blocker"

I agree that we would have to work out the technical stuff later. We may not need to use a blocker or a tin foil maybe we could use something that absorbs the signal fully or at least lowers it substantially. That's really a privacy feature and to avoid people with RFID scanners from targeting people based on their belongings.

Will only work when you get some bobo's on a political level looking the same way. This is for the big companies.

I feel behind the times, I don't know what RFID is - and it wasn't explained. You may get more responses if you do :-)

Cool idea. However I have not seen a single RFID product anywhere so it sounds like a bit of a thing for the future. Am I wrong?

RFID is already in every product Wal-mart ships

I was told that Walmart only used RFIDs on the larger packages that they ship (ie. A large box of shirts). I don't think Walmart has reached tagging everything with RFID yet. I agree that it's very likely to be the future, but this idea can't go anywhere until it does. I personally see that still 5 years off.

dasickis i like your idea..n as far as i know about the RFIDs i guess its gonna work well enough :)

"RFID is already in every product Wal-mart ships"
NO, it has an rfid on the box all the products are shipped in bulk in. Not each individual product.

Cost, security, convenience. Are all problems.

Walmart is driving adoption of RFID because they're requiring vendors to implement it at the product level, but they're not there yet. So far (as far as I know from consulting with a couple of their smaller suppliers), they've only required their largest suppliers to add RFID at all, even at the shipping carton level. It's certainly not in all products and it's not even in all boxes/cartons/crates. Still, what Walmart wants, Walmart gets from most of the supply side, so they will drive adoption and there will be RFID in their chewing gum before long.

However, your market for a product like this is likely to be completely distinct from Walmart's market. Until you've got widespread adoption of RFID in a broad selection of products, this idea is just a dream in search of an infrastructure.

RFID is not in every product WalMart ships to the customer. Their chips are on the pallets. It is internal to their distributuion system.

Try Aluminium wraped around your head. Just put it in your hat.

It keeps "them" from planting crazy ideas in your mind.

4larsbell: funny funny funny...do you have an agenda?

This as timely as next year US election =) RFID is here..i had a raw idea before regarding my MP3 reloader... i like where is this heading

@Ccozad: sure i remember much of of Joyce RAGS (rfid on socks) its one of the most intriguing viral concept that rock the house since an underwear fart blocker was submitted way back ;-)

... seriously after reading much of the comments and rebuttal here i understand more how RFID would serve social interest like GPS does.

3 stars for this one!

for the security of my kids? its 5 stars for me!

Thank you for all your comments. I was misinformed about Wal-mart's RFID policy. Regardless, I think that pursuing this idea now because whenever RFID adoption reaches mainstream adoption it will be too late with other ventures interested in RFID tech. Also, I'm thinking if I should release a RFID "tagging" machine with the products. That way there can always be an inventory of what you have in your house and the suitcase can read my standard form. The machine, however, will need manual submissions or try to read a pre-existing RFID chip (in case there's no standard in the future, very likely that way all the computation of translating from one form to another happens once) or from the barcode and do an online lookup.

goodluck...

i openly vote 4 stars here!

As a slight extension to the suitcase idea, how about implementing it for any product that is transported in pieces, assembled for use and then packed down to take home? As a musician I've heard stories of friends turning up to concerts to find a piece of their flute is left at home, etc, but I'm sure you can think of other applications as easily as I can.

Technically this could be easier, as you only need to tag very specific items and link them to a specific case/bag.

That's the point. I don't know why the score is still so low, because I have tried to address as many concerns as I could. Maybe I should have put up an elevator pitch and refined my idea accordingly.