Odd News: Paying by Fingerprint at the Supermarket

[NeoNSX]

Odd news of an interesting new application of technology.

<I>"Customers of a German supermarket chain will soon be able to pay for their shopping by placing their finger on a scanner at the check-out, saving the time spent scrabbling for coins or cards."</I>

FULL STORY HERE:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&e=1&u=/nm/odd_germany_fingerprint_dc

 

[erik76]

Wow....does it really take that much longer to use a credit card? I wonder if anyone would start feeling like a criminal when they are being fingerprinted.

 

[KGP]

Wow....does it really take that much longer to use a credit card?

Not really. The purpose has to do with risk mitigation. There are alreay a few beta's going on here in the states.

Side note: The newest laptop I got has a finger print scanner on it and I love it. You can register each and any web page that requires a login and password. Way cool. It also works with boot-up, system login, etc.

 

[erik76]

Side note: The newest laptop I got has a finger print scanner on it and I love it. You can register each and any web page that requires a login and password. Way cool. It also works with boot-up, system login, etc.

Wow...I can't believe how far technology has come. How much was the laptop? :smile:

 

[KGP]

Wow...I can't believe how far technology has come. How much was the laptop? :smile:

I don't recall exactly, but it was the same price or less than I paid for the exact same laptop a year earlier. i didn't even know this one was coming with the fingerprint scanner. Here's some onfo on the biometric system: http://www.upek.com/solutions/notebook.asp

 

[The Kid]

Instead of spending money on Bullsh_t like this, why dont we use this $$$ to go towards something that will actaully better our society.

 

[ncdogdoc]

Instead of spending money on Bullsh_t like this, why dont we use this $$$ to go towards something that will actaully better our society.

When someone steals your identity to enrich their lives and sodden yours, you will wish this type of technology was pervasive.

 

[KGP]

Instead of spending money on Bullsh_t like this, why dont we use this $$$ to go towards something that will actaully better our society.

You're looking at this wrong. This technology, while somewhat invasive, would pay for itself many times over in the form of cheaper prices on consumer goods. If it could be adapted on a large scale, credit card transaction discount rates could be reduced from 1.73% (interchange/minimum-card present) to near than the cost of an ATM PIN based transaction, where the actual cost is far, far less. That is a nice contribution to society in my book. There are many other contributing factors, and this is just a simplistic explanation, but it's fairly accurate.

Within our lifetime we will see riskless digital currency, and it will probably include biometrics systems. I just hope it comes after I retire. :biggrin: