The Times: Tech column - Broken Windows/Prada's RFID tags
By David Rowan
If a design flaw made your car crash, you would probably sue the manufacturer. Yet when flawed software crashes your computer, you can only curse and pray that the helpline eventually answers. Well, Technobabble is getting mad as hell - especially at Microsoft products such as XP, which contains more holes than a Swiss cheese.
And we are not going to take it any more. According to your e mails, you feel the same - showing little patience for the Bill Gates doctrine that, as a service rather than a product, software is perfectly entitled to be flawed. What this industry needs is a class action lawsuit to get it thinking about our rights as consumers - and Technobabble is happy to lead the way. Do get in touch if you fancy launching a test case against the absurdly low standards - lawyers are especially welcome - and we will see if we can have some fun. Apologies, though, if I cannot reply to your e-mails: I have been having some tremendous technical trouble lately.
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PRADA, the Italian fashion house, has taken data-mining to a new level at its New York store. It has placed "e-tags" inside every item which monitor what shoppers try on compared with what they buy. A screen in the changing room picks up the signal and, if you are a regular customer, the system will recommend other items based on those that you have previously handled. It is part of a trend that retailers say will enable them to improve service and store layouts. In other words, yet another excuse to crunch personal data and for more intrusive marketing campaigns - though next time you succumb to a pair of Jimmy Choos, at least you can blame science.
(The Times, June 19 2002)
If a design flaw made your car crash, you would probably sue the manufacturer. Yet when flawed software crashes your computer, you can only curse and pray that the helpline eventually answers. Well, Technobabble is getting mad as hell - especially at Microsoft products such as XP, which contains more holes than a Swiss cheese.
And we are not going to take it any more. According to your e mails, you feel the same - showing little patience for the Bill Gates doctrine that, as a service rather than a product, software is perfectly entitled to be flawed. What this industry needs is a class action lawsuit to get it thinking about our rights as consumers - and Technobabble is happy to lead the way. Do get in touch if you fancy launching a test case against the absurdly low standards - lawyers are especially welcome - and we will see if we can have some fun. Apologies, though, if I cannot reply to your e-mails: I have been having some tremendous technical trouble lately.
++++
PRADA, the Italian fashion house, has taken data-mining to a new level at its New York store. It has placed "e-tags" inside every item which monitor what shoppers try on compared with what they buy. A screen in the changing room picks up the signal and, if you are a regular customer, the system will recommend other items based on those that you have previously handled. It is part of a trend that retailers say will enable them to improve service and store layouts. In other words, yet another excuse to crunch personal data and for more intrusive marketing campaigns - though next time you succumb to a pair of Jimmy Choos, at least you can blame science.
(The Times, June 19 2002)
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