I hate the grocery store.
Maybe I would like grocery shopping more if I was a foodie and I enjoyed browsing, but I find the whole experience of going in, finding what I need, and getting out of there a little exasperating. Matters are made somewhat worse by Erin’s penchant for unusual ingredients. I find myself searching the same aisle three or four times for certain items (please don’t ask why I don’t just get help from a store employee. Everyone knows that’s a problem all males have).
The grocery store makes me look forward to the emergence of the internet of things. The internet of things consists of a greatly increased number of inanimate objects that are connected to the web. Refrigerators are an oft cited example of how the internet of things work – your fridge keeps track of how much milk, beer, or whatever you’re using and automatically produces a grocery list when you’re ready to go to the store. Or better yet, the fridge sends an email to your local grocery store saying you need a quart of milk and the grocery store delivers it to your front door.
Perhaps saying that I hate the grocery store isn’t quite accurate. I actually like walking around in them. It’s the not-finding-what-I-need part that makes me nuts. The way I understand it, the internet of things would have the capability to produce a map of the grocery store and guide me through the aisles via the shortest route and tell me exactly where everything is via RFID and GPS tagging. I could enjoy my walk and find what I came for right away. That, my friends, would rock.
I know many people feel the same way about libraries as I do about grocery stores. I’m curious how the internet of things will affect libraries and museums. Many libraries already employ RFID tagging, but I believe their use is restricted mainly to inventory and anti-theft purposes. I hope this new extension of the internet will facilitate browsing and provide tools for researchers, too.
Does anyone know of any cultural institutions that are really flexing the muscles of this technology? I would love to hear about them.
