In the meantime, I’ve emailed him to get more information on their product; images at least. Perhaps he’ll respond.

I believe he’s now the CTO of this company, basically doing the same thing you’re mentioning here:

http://www.azstarnet.com/dailystar/printDS/37892.php

http://www.scs-mag.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1081&Itemid=45

I can’t find anything on the device itself, but he’s a very hands-on person. I have no doubt it’s very interesting and ahead of most anything else out there.

It’s probably worth mentioning that Aironet, a well-known wireless system, originated inside a company that manufactured barcode scanners (patent conflicts with Symbol forced them to go wireless).

I suspect the first spime was actually made at that company. I’m fairly certain the people I knew who were heading up the Aironet division (I do recall one name; I should contact him) were aware of the positional data they could derive from the radio technology they’d developed. I can’t be 100% certain, but as a former navigator on a U.S. Navy ship, I can’t imagine how that *didn’t* come up in our conversations. Before GPS, I frequently relied on radio beacons (Loran-C, aso).

I think the term “spime” could use a bit more clarification, however. For example, to be part of a “cradle to grave” system, does the device need to maintain it’s own inventory of componentry or is it sufficient that this be online in some network database? I assumed a “spime” would have some autonomy. It’s history, inventory, identity all being maintained onboard. Maybe I’m expecting it to be more than what I suspect has already come and gone.