| The technical groundwork has been laid for wide-spectrum exploitation of smart card technology in both commercial and enterprise venues. Our goal in this book is to provide IT managers, system architects, system analysts, and application developers with the basic information about smart card technology that they need to open the tap on the incredible value stored in this technology.
Information about smart cards and the technical detail needed to harness the technology has historically been very hard to come by. This, more than any other factor, has been the barrier to the use of smart cards. Whereas they once had a unique value offer, smart cards now have many technical substitutes. Belatedly, the smart card industry has realized that either applications carry cards into the mainstream of everyday use or they will join eight-track tapes, monorail trains, cold fusion, magnetic bubbles, and Betamax video in the dustbin of technical curiosities.
A smart card is just a computer. We know how that story plays out. We've seen it in mainframes, mini-computers, desktop computers, and laptops. You have apps and you connect or you die. The smart card will follow the same path.
Some computing device will capture the next and, yet again, more personal level of computing. It will be our avatar on the Internet. It will be our digital wallet. It will be the keeper of our digital persona. The smart card is in the race. It's cheap. It's portable. It's about as secure as you can make a computer that fits in your pocket. And if you're willing to spend the time, it can deliver a surprising amount of performance. Take it out for a spin. See what you think. |
