Benetton Backs Away From Smart Tags In Clothing Line
from the that-didn't-last-long dept
Benetton got a lot of attention last month for announcing plans to incorporate RFID "smart tags" to help them better manage inventory. Today, however, they seem to be backing off those plans, saying that they're analyzing the idea, but none of their clothes use the technology, and they're still not sure if any ever will. It's unclear if they're backing down because people made a stink about privacy issues, or if the original announcement was overhyped well out of proportion with the nature of the deal (using the chips for "tests", rather than in an actual product).
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Maybe it's the sense of touch?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Sense of touch + cost of embedding process
The additional issue of cost is also related to this. (As background, the scratchy nylon tags are a result of a cost-reducing process of attaching a tag on the shirt in the first place. This process usually involves placing a hot iron against the tag while it is held in place so that the tag will melt to the shirt. Also, this process is very quick, so that mass-production is not hindered.) Clothing manufacturers would have to figure out a cheap fast way of bonding the chip onto the tag and bonding the tag onto the shirt. Obviously a hot iron would be bad for the chip package.
If they back-pedal and decide not to use the chips after all, it would probably be because they would have done the math and found that it would cost more to attach the chips to tags than it would to have clothes stolen occasionally.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
easier ways
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: easier ways
[ link to this | view in chronology ]