When did this happen?

I leave work at night. It's after office hours so the building has magnetically locked it's doors. I tap my wallet against a sensor to ask it to unlock long enough for me to leave.

As I board the tram, I tap my wallet on a sensor to validate my trip. A few minutes later I tap the sensor again to deduct the trip's value from my public transport account.

At the grocery store, I'm being served by a machine. One human supervisor watches over the 9 robotic clerks, who kindly instruct me via recorded message to scan my items and place them in the baggage area. I tell the robot via touch-screen that I've brought my own bag, but it refuses to continue our transaction until I've placed said bag on the floor. Each item in my basket is carefully tracked with cameras and pressure sensors, ensuring the right amount of stock has left the store. Upon completion, I tap my walet against a sensor to authorise the deduction of the displayed amount from my debit account. A recipt emerges from a slot in front of me and the machine reminds me not to forget my bags still resting on it's sensors.


With this many wireless chips in one leather case (and probably many more to come in the future - it's probably a matter of time before my photo ID, health-care, various membership cards and even gift certificates follow suit), how do they co-operate? How does the scanner hear "my credit card number is xxxx" over the cacophony of "this is not the card you are looking for"?

Will the future pick-pocket bump into me in order to pass a scanner over my pocket?

Will I even need to open my wallet at all in the not too distant future?

Will my life end if I loose my wallet while I'll be drunken?
Will there be more and more unemployed, because everything will be replaced by robots?
Will one hacker be able to burn this world to its ashes?
(will I ask some more demagogic questions???)

Quote: Original post by szecs
Will my life end if I loose my wallet while I'll be drunken?

No. Because it should be empty by then.

Quote: Original post by Hodgman
At the grocery store, I'm being served by a machine. One human supervisor watches over the 9 robotic clerks, who kindly instruct me via recorded message to scan my items and place them in the baggage area.

How are those self-checkout machines viewed in Australia? They don't seem especially popular over here; I find them irritating, erratic and far slower than just queuing up to be served by a human being.

The thing with them is:

- Wherever i go there are about 1/3rd of them out of order.
- There always needs to be a supervisor there to get you past various stages because your timing wasn't perfect.
- Finding items that dont have barcodes is a complete shitter.

Fun times.

I've never had an issues with them at all. Once or twice (in the last year or so?) it hasn't correctly noticed that I did put the item in the bag, which adds about a minutes wait for the supervisor to come fix it.

As for the wallet thing, if you're feeling particularly energetic (or tall) you don't even need to take it out of your pocket. Nothing beats the feeling of making a door open using only the magical properties of your ass. [grin]

Quote: Original post by owl

Quote: Original post by szecs
Will my life end if I loose my wallet while I'll be drunken?

No. Because it should be empty by then.

I assume you're referring to his life right? Cause he'd be drunken...

Quote: Original post by programmermattc

Quote: Original post by owl

Quote: Original post by szecs
Will my life end if I loose my wallet while I'll be drunken?

No. Because it should be empty by then.

I assume you're referring to his life right? Cause he'd be drunken...

Actually both. The point and consequence of getting drunk. Shifting into oblivion and stop giving a fuck about what's important to you when you're sober. :)

Quote: Original post by szecs
Will my life end if I loose my wallet while I'll be drunken?

The proximity detector will deactivate your cards once they are too far away form the chip in your brain.

Man. I was expecting a story of how some abominous wormhole opened up right before your eyes and a hand - preferably the hand of a cyborg - reached out, slapped you in the face, stole your wallet, and vanished into thin air. Then you came here to assemble an army of nerds to build a time machine in order to reclaim the stolen wallet from the future.

I am disappointed.