Image from Engadget
I love Engadget, it is my favorite gadget blog slightly ahead of Gizmodo. Three of my favorite things in life are golf, business, and gadgets so when Engadget blogged about a "Radar Golf" product I couldn't help but comment.
The concept is that an RFID chip would be implanted in a golf ball that would then allow a golfer to easily find the ball with a handheld device. I hate to say it, but while this product is a good idea, it will never take off. The reason is simple economic incentives. The golf ball manufacturers count on you losing balls so you will buy more, helping you find ball will hurt their sales. Additionally, pro shops make a lot of money selling new balls and used balls. They sell used balls by simply picking up lost balls off the course and reselling them for over a $1 a ball, so they don't want you losing less balls, they want you to lose more balls. These incentives mean that the only way this type of product will get out on the market will be for some entrepreneur to manufacture the balls and distribute them through alternative channels, like eBay.
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