A Great Idea But Implemented In A Silly Way
Here’s another example of a technology being mangled to provide (halfway) a useful service, while meanwhile ignoring a superior, free, world-wide technology that could do the job much better.
The described system will give progress checks on children passing know points. This is great, until the child wanders off or is enticed or kidnapped to a location where the signals are lost.
Tracking your children is a great idea, I’ve gone on record for it many times. But why not use the GPS system to do it? cell phones, especially in Japan, are ubiquitous and cheap. A huge percentage of the land mass of Japan is within cellular range as well. Simply providing the child with a GPS enabled cell phone and a cheap and reliable web-based tracking provider (I know several) would not only give th parents confidence that the child is on the correct path, but can instantly alert when the child wanders and can track the child anywhere he or she goes.
I understand that the mission of the RFID company is to sell product, but it’s the wrong methodology, plain and simple. GPS tracking is just that, tracking of valuable assets, whether it be a child, a pet, a vehicle or and aircraft. RFID systems are great for seeing where boxes are in a warehouse but it’s hardly the tool to track a child in the open spaces.