Will 70’s ‘microchip’ envisage come true in the real future?

Ahh, the beautiful future where recognizing (or hiding) one’s own identity could be decided by short-range radio frequency identification signals, whether the implant carrier wants to watch a football game, buy his favorite diapers in Wal-Mart or notify the police about a burglar who just stole his cat.

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, the man behind the book named “Distraction Addiction” and a visiting scholar at Stanford, thinks about chips as a long time investment that will became somewhat less inconvenient than other biometric scanners (which exploit an individual’s eye or fingerprint uniqueness).

Larry Niven, a science fiction author himself, adds that microchips may even improve the fight against crime. Also, Larry was sporting the microchip idea way back in the 70’s, as long as they were not breaking any privacy concerns among the general public.

The technology is already being used at this same moment while you’re reading this text. It helps farmers track their herds, weigh them and report any dietary changes if necessary.

According to Stu Lipoff, an electrical engineer and spokesperson, some people volunteered usage of such technology to open their apartment by scanning their arms and using it as a personalized ID.

However, some people see a potential abuse of the microchip tech. Troy Dunn, who has a show about locating missing persons, supports GPS monitoring for sex offenders, convicted felons and children if the parents agree. Anything out of this circle would break the norm according to him.

As strange as this seems now, pacemakers, insulin pumps and other electronic devices are already used by patients, so Lipoff concludes that maybe the sole idea of a ‘tracker’ inside one’s own body makes the experience Orwellian, hence the opinions are divided.