Is there any difference between RFID chips and potato chips?

Filed in archive Tags and Readers on November 23, 2007

Most of us would surely say yes to the fact that there is no relationship between the two terms stated above except the common word chips but for Ralph Basham, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner there is probably no difference between the two terms and that too he admitted at an event on RFID which was attended by a number of dignitaries.




Let me explain in detail. Ralph Basham attended an event titled RFID Solutions: Securing the Commerce of Tomorrow at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce which was attended by representatives from various agencies and all had come to listen to some good words about the RFID technology. Everything was going on smoothly until Ralph Basham took the dais and started boasting about how his agency was the only one to be aware about how to use RFID chips and how more than 325,000 commercial truck drivers and commuters were using the trusted traveler card. It all sounded quite impressive until he uttered these following words:

I probably couldn't tell you the difference between an RFID chip and a potato chip.

It seemed as if he was joking at first or that our ears were not with us at that moment but when he repeated the same words again it must have definitely put a number of faces in the audience to shame. Would you call this a faux pas or label it as witticism on his part. Was such remark warranted? Probably you as a reader can judge it better.