Reading :: A Billion Little Pieces

A Billion Little Pieces: RFID and Infrastructures of Identification
by Jordan Frith

I've been meaning to get to this book for a while. Here, Jordan Frith describes Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags as an instance of "object communication, which I define as the ability of objects that have either no or little computing power to wirelessly communicate identifying data with infrastructure" (p.5). He argues that "with the growth of communicative objects—we need to pay more attention to infrastructure," understanding it as "that which communicates," and "Consequently, I position RFID as an infrastructure of identification that works simultaneously as an infrastructure of communication" (p.5). 

In the rest of the book, Frith places RFID among infrastructures of identification, which include bar codes; describes different types of RFID tags and their uses; debunks some of the more conspiratorial takes on RFID while acknowledging actual privacy concerns; and discusses the future of identification infrastructures. I learned a lot about RFID.

Frith's writing style is overall clear and enjoyable—sometimes I felt like I was reading a series of Scientific American articles instead of a book. I could easily see myself using this book in an undergraduate class on information and communication technologies. For a graduate class, I could possibly use it in conjunction with the science and technology studies (STS) that Frith sometimes cites, e.g., reading Chapter 1 alongside Bowker & Star and Haraway.

But the flip side is that I didn't think the book got very deeply into theory or methodology, and consequently it was hard to see the implications for either. Frith does draw on STS and STS-adjacent work, but doesn't get deeply into these sources, doesn't spend much time exploring their theoretical frameworks, and doesn't extend them significantly. 

But that's fine! The book had a clear mission and it achieved it. It's a great introduction to RFID, how it's affecting our lives, and how communication infrastructures change how we live and work. If you're interested in RFID, or in information and communication infrastructures, definitely pick it up.