Also do they actually need to carry the data with them? It would seem if the ratio of data owners to intelligent devices/readers is so high, you really come back to simply needing a card number ala Medicare - or maybe even something like a "tinyurl" only a little more human rememberable.The client then just needs to recite their number/tinurl.
This assumes that the reader device has real-time (or maybe near real-time is good enough, access to the data storage. (And near real -time may be good enough - 1 000 000 users with 10 K data each is "only" 10G - easily replicated on all your reader devices - assuming the data doesn't change all that often. On Tue, Apr 15, 2008 at 2:11 PM, Martin Visser <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Whoops, fogot the link to 2D barcode - http://www.barcodeman.com/faq/2d.php > > > > On Tue, Apr 15, 2008 at 2:10 PM, Martin Visser <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > This article > http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2002_Oct_29/ai_93509145 > > indicates a 2002 price for an Atmel 256K smartcard was only $0.52. I > > think anything in the 1K - 512K would have to be either a smartcard, > > or possible RFID type card/device. > > > > If you get away with only a few K, and it doesn't have to read/write > > you could look at 2D bar codes. You would need some sort of durable > > paper though. > > > > > > > > > > On Tue, Apr 15, 2008 at 2:03 PM, Sridhar Dhanapalan > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > On 15/04/2008, Martin Visser <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > You haven't mentioned a physical size requiment. Untethered SIM cards > > > > (and probably SD cards) are a tad small - and too easily lost. > > > > > > > > Also is security/privacy and reliability an issue? > > > > > > These are all issues. I was thinking people would be given a pouch for > > > the card, or keep the SIM as a full-size card (credit-card size). > > > > > > Privacy can be achieved at the software level via encryption. > > > > > > > > > > Rather SIM - what about the phone itself. In 1st world countries we > > > > are approaching 1:1 ratio. Provide you connect to the phone > > > > (Bluetooth/GSM/IR) it is a pretty good storage device that people > tend > > > > to look after. (bCode uses this principle for it's ticketing > scheme) > > > > > > There are no phones. We just want to use the SIM cards for storage. > > > > > > I should clarify: this is for millions of people in the developing > > > world. They won't have computers, phones or any kind of reader. But > > > they will have access to someone who has a computer that can > > > read/write them. > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Regards, Martin > > > > Martin Visser > > > > > > -- > Regards, Martin > > Martin Visser > -- Regards, Martin Martin Visser -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
