Nick Moulsdale

Leeds, UK

IT and Finance

It annoys me that RFID is all lumped together. Passive RFID is detectable by a reader at about 1 foot, possibly 2 (thats 200mm). That is the only practical Point of Sale system as it has an unlimited shelf life. Active RFID systems, which use batteries, have a life of a year or 2, have a range of about 30 metres or 100 feet (dependent upon system) and are very expensive, say 10 to 100 times as much as passive systems.

Unless you tell us which system you are talking about, we have no way of knowing whether our drugs are being counted by a close up reader (about £1000 each at present as they wake up the passive RFID) or by an area reader (megabucks) that can trace us as far as outside the Pharmacy!