RFID in 2010: Will Anyone Care (Who Doesn’t Work for an RFID Company, That Is), Continued!

Wanna start some static? Tell people with a vested interest in a particular technology-centric industry that you fear users won't care about it after next year.

Want a specific example? How about, oh, I don't know -- RFID?

On Nov. 30, I posted a Brief at Focus, where I work, entitled "RFID on 2010: Will Anyone Care (Who Doesn't Work for an RFID Company, That Is)?" You can read the whole thing at http://bit.ly/RFIDin2010. Here's an excerpt.

"If significant improvement in integration and simplicity does not pervade the RFID industry throughout 2010, that year could be the last one in which very many people outside of the RFID community care anything about RFID. And indicators to date are not promising. ...Granted that the current worldwide economic unpleasantness has not helped. But there is still ample circumstantial evidence to cause concern about the future of the RFID industry. Those concerned should be watching developments throughout 2010 very closely – to decide whether to continue doing so or not in 2011 and beyond."

Well, I got comments almost immediately. Some excerpts of these follow. "Michael, good piece and perhaps a wake-up call for the industry," said Mark Roberti, founder and owner of "RFID Journal." "RFID needs to be simpler to deploy and more focused on complete solutions," he added.

"Your article is a little bleak but I understand the point that RFID has seen a lot of unfulfilled potential," Kurt Mensch, Principal Product Manager at Intermec, a vendor that I think "gets it" where RFID is concerned. "I think we'll see a lot more collaboration in the coming years with more focus on the business benefits and less focus on the 'feeds and speeds.'"

There's more, but I think you get the idea. If you have any interest in RFID at all, please go to http://bit.ly/RFIDin2010, read my Focus Brief, then post some comments, and let's make some more discussion happen. Maybe we WILL wake someone up!