Group Presentation Theme

My group had a very difficult time deciding on what theme to do. We have so many different interests and backrounds that influenced our ideas but in the end we settle on RFID technologies. We found that there are so many instances and products that use this technology that we felt it was worth sharing with our class some of the things that use RFID that maybe they don't know about. We split it up into three general areas including; RFID used in transponders for toll collecting, RFID and security in workplaces and safety, and RFID in the everyday shopping including clothing, groceries, and electronics. There is also a very uncertain future of where RFID could still go since there have been ideas of implementing a completely checkout free grocery store where all the products are tagged with a chip that stores pricing information and when the person walks out the store, they walk through a device much like they do today that catalogs everything in their shopping cart as well as their identity so that all the items can be charged. There would be no stopping at a checkout clerk and no waiting in line. This is ideal for every American who hates hastling with the lines at the grocery store.

Entertainment in 10 years?

Well, considering all the pirating of entertainment such as movies and music downloads done online illegally, I think the entertainment industry will flop within the next 10 years. There will be so many people downloading things for "free" online that the entertainment industry will suffer until it hits bankruptcy. Especially since the government no longer pursues lawsuits against individuals who engage in uploading copy written material online, there will be no stopping the illegal online downloading of copy written content. Artists and actors will be the biggest ones to lose out in all of this. Movie theaters, if they are still around, will be charging hundreds of dollars to view the movies since that will be the only way to generate revenue. If they want to survive, they are going to have to figure out a way to encode the data so that not just anyone can download a copy and it work. They are going to have to do something even more advanced than what video games do today with activation keys to protect their content and to be able to make money from it. Otherwise, I think entertainment will be nonexistent and only peoples little personal video clips will be the only entertainment available on Utube. Yuck!