But auto-ID has gone well beyond bar codes. Memory buttons can store megabytes of information in a steel capsule that looks like a watch battery. Passive radio frequency tags are being built into expensive consumer products, like shoes, as a security measure. Other passive RD-ID tags are tracking everything from semiconductors in Silicon Valley to storks in Europe. That ability to read and record information is backed up by a new generation of communications systems built around intelligent terminals, including many handheld models, and spread-spectrum radio communications.
Terminals now offer handwriting recording and real-time updating from a central database.
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