http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/business/2008/the_box/default.stm
While watching Top Gear, this particular news item caught my interest - the BBC essentially wanted to explain the global supply chain and in inference - globalization (or is it the other way around?). Their intention was to track a container all over the world for a year! and in the process demonstrate how linked we all are.
Now this kind of technology and tracking capability is certainly available right now and it is possible to "see" where your goods are at any point in time. Of course we can improve on cost of the GPS, signal fidelity, clarity and strength and I foresee a time when these containers will come embedded with one or more tracking chips. The technology used to track them will evolve from a combination of GPS, RFID, RTLS/WiFi into other manifestations, but the essence is auto-id which is not only information on what but also where, where-to, where-from and with a mature infrastructure -- how fast?
