At 3:14 PM 12/11/94 -0800, Timothy C. May wrote:
I don't plan to say much more, and won't be playing the "Twenty Questions" game, but the system does _not_ use satellites or anything of that sort. Satellites up the ante considerably, and aren't even needed.
No invitatation to twenty questions intended. You could have sat quietly and let me make a fool of myself (or not) without futher comment. Since you have... I believe if you reread what I wrote, I said that the accuracy with satelites was considerable using a pretty small box to begin with (for instance, the Geostar satellite-based system's predicted accuracy was about 6 inches in two dimensions and two meters in three dimensions), but that with local antennae (say every block or so) you could have pretty phenomenal accuracy the the signal was possible. If you put embedded antennae in the walls (we put wires in walls already, yes?) you could get accuracy enough to precision mill with ;-). So, given your reference to ground-based radio, I think we're in "violent agreement here". The application of this to physical commerce has been discussed here before. Just pick up a tagged item and walk out of a store with it. It could be made anonymous, I bet.
Radio is enough to get 1% positional accuracy (or better) and radio can have better coverage in many places that GPS-like systems can't reach.
the backs of commerce. The only thing which saved GPS for mere mortals like us was the MIC's usual severe understimate of Grove's Law and the ^^^^^^^^^^^ exponential cost effectiveness of integrated circuits over time.
A minor nit, but that's "Moore's Law,
A major nit, in my book, and one I'm standing on the wrong side of. I got Andy Grove confused with Gordon Moore. It must because they look so much alike. :-). Grovelling in your general direction as always, Bob Hettinga ;-) <I seem to be downwind as usual...> ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah@shipwright.com) "There is no difference between someone Shipwright Development Corporation who eats too little and sees Heaven and 44 Farquhar Street someone who drinks too much and sees Boston, MA 02331 USA snakes." -- Bertrand Russell (617) 323-7923