You walk up to the cash register with a package of hot dogs, the cashier scans it, and a screen pops up on the computer: “Ask the customer if he would like potato chips.” So the cashier does, and you leave the store with hot dogs and potato chips and walk home.

Upon entering the door, your home computer asks if you’d like to order a pizza in three hours. You say “yes” as you take your garbage out. As soon as your garbage leaves the door your computer reminds you that you’re out of milk and would like to know if you want more ordered.

Sound like something out of the Jetsons? Well, it’s not.

The scenario can be made possible by an increasingly popular technology called Radio Frequency Identification.

According to RFIDjournal.com, RFID is a technology that uses radio waves to automatically identify people or objects.

Companies ranging from Sysco to INTEL to Chevron use RFID for tracking purposes – all of which make lives much easier for those companies.

Consumers have yet to hear much from RFID for one important reason – money.

Today, passive RFID tags commonly cost 25 to 50 cents each, estimated Raj Veeramani, a professor of engineering and business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who works with RFID. Bar codes, on the other hand, cost a fraction of a cent. Obviously, this makes RFID for consumers unfeasible.

Allen Nogee, principle analyst at In-Stat Group, stated, “Over the past few years, tag prices have been dropping by as much as 50 percent a year.

The general consensus is that tag prices will have to drop to 5 cents or less for companies to see a return on investment.” That’s not as far away as some would think.

Once RFID is in place for consumer use, it will be used for everything from tracking shopping habits, reminding you to buy potato chips with hotdogs, buying a pizza every night at 9 p.m., or keeping track of your home inventory, like letting you know you’re out of milk.

With all this potential, it seems there’s a bright future for the RFID industry. However, as with all bright futures, there comes a dark cloud.

The RFID industry has faced strong opposition. In a new book titled, “Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID,” Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyr claim companies Philips, Proctor and Gamble, Gillette, NCR and IBM work together and with the federal government to follow consumers everywhere using RFID tags planted in clothing and belongings.

Albrecht, director of the consumer privacy group Caspian, is at the forefront of the attack on RFID. She has been in numerous articles and made countless radio and television appearances warning of the dangers of RFID.

Albrecht worries retail companies will combine the data from RFID tags with customers’ information, turning the RFID tag into a tracking beacon. She also suspects the government will want access to the retailers’ RFID databases.

Albrecht has concerns about RFID tags based in religion, and believes RFID technology may be part of the fulfillment of the Mark of the Beast, prophesied in the Bible’s Book of Revelation.

Don’t let the concerns of people like this get to you. Both of these primary arguments against RFID can be rebutted easily.

Start with the latter argument – the RFID chip is the Mark of the Beast. I’m sure many will dismiss this argument without much thought.

However, to quell the fears of Christians (myself included) who do believe in Biblical prophesy, turn no further than the scripture that describes the Mark – Revelations 13:16-17.

In this passage, the Mark of the Beast is placed in the hand or the head. If RFID cards are one day used as tracking devices, they would likely be placed on a fleshy, out of the way area likely the shoulder blades, as stated on the urban legends reference Web site, Snopes.com. This certainly isn’t the head or the hand. Phew, I feel better about that now.

Albrecht’s first argument, the government and large businesses have diabolical plans to track your every move, certainly has more credibility. However, the leaders in the RFID industry are doing their best to alleviate these worries.

At a Chicago conference in early April, the companies attending the conference-chiefly retailers and retail suppliers – said they impose policies requiring consumers to be informed whenever the RFID tags are present.

Some companies, such as IBM, are also developing technology known as “kill machines,” able to disable the tags after checkout.

Simply put, if you don’t want to play, you don’t have to.

It’s natural for humans to fear change. RFID is on the horizon, and it could mean a major change in the way we live. RFID is a technology that will bring us accuracy, convenience and safety. It’s something we should embrace and look forward to.

If you see “Spychips” on the bookshelves or hear Albrecht speaking, don’t be frightened. The downside potential of the RFID doesn’t compare to the positives gained from this new technology.

Maybe it’s just me, but I look forward to reminders I forgot the toilet paper, letting my PC order pizza or knowing exactly what supplies I need, simply by taking out the garbage.

Columns reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the Northern Star staff.