OPTICAL LASER CARD 

Ever had a bank teller ask very personal questions to verify that you really are Maisie Schwartz trying to cash that check? Well, the ultimate (for this week anyhow) in identity cards is here. The unbelievable Drexon LaserCard carries up to two megabytes of data in its credit card-sized optical memory.

For those who thought your SIN card was identification now hear this: LaserCard's two megabytes is the equivalent of 800 pages of typed information. It could contain your entire work, health, life history (of residences, for example) and a host of other detailed personal information impossible for a forger to discover. The card literally can store more knowledge about you than you yourself can remember.

In comparison the usual bank card with its magnetic strip holds 156 user bits (that's the first 28 words in this column); a microcircuit chip card (last months "hot" smart card) holds a maximum of 65,000 user bits. The LaserCard holds 16 million!! (And that's about a 20 year supply of my weekly column!) A double-density floppy disc in your computer holds only 6.5 million bits.

The uses for this development are amazing. As an electronic publishing medium, it has numerous advantages. Can you imagine the saving in library shelf space? After all not that many books go to 800 pages!

Read-only machines to translate card information will sell for under $200.

The card cannot even be copied without the card knowing -- and revealing that to the microbar or software spot card reader machine. It looks like a real winner. Others agree. More than 20 companies, including 11 in Japan have already been licensed to use the card for customers.

Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Maryland are already distributing their card throughout that state. It contains a picture in digital form, health policy, and all personal records. X-rays, ECGs, vaccination records, accidents, surgical and other treatments. Everything.

There will be a LaserCard in your future. For more information: Johanna Protsik, Drexler Technology Corporation, 2557 Charleston Road, Mountain View, CA 94043.

Phone: (415) 969-7277

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