Japanese firm Bridgestone aren't content with soaking up all the plaudits that go with having prevented Michael Schumacher winning a single GP this season. They have also just launched an electronic paper-based system called Electro-Liquid Powder which is being trialled in certain Tokyo stores. Posted prices on items on the shelves can be modified from a back-end data entry system.
Once this system has spread, in places like Argentina you will have to grab your cheese slices and dash to the cashier before the effects of hyperinflation are punched in on the server. And what happens when there's a big queue? Quilombo time. I can forsee an underground market for nano-electronic devices that hand back a bit of pricing control to the customer!
One thing this sort of technology might allow the supermarkets to do is to offer two for one type deals on products that find themselves in the same basket even when their original location within the store itself was quite separate.
All this also made me think about a updateable chip that would provide your car with a real-time record of its market value. "Good Morning! Today I have depreciated by...FIFTEEN...pounds".
No comments:
Post a Comment