As the title states, what benefit would getting an implanted microchip provide to the average person in, say, America or Europe? What do you use yours for? Personally, I use mine to unlock my door and share contact information, and soon plan to use it for my car.
While the cost and procedure feels justified by the uses at least for me, I feel like this is not the case for most people. At the end of the day, after explaining to someone that there aren’t really any real/significant downsides to an injectable implant, I often lose the battle when they ask what they can use it for.
X-Series can be troublesome to scan on phones, not many people have digital locks, and rigging it up to your car takes more trouble than most are willing to put in.
I feel like most of us here get it for the novelty and/or using it as some party trick. And while I am not condemning that choice, the real question for microchip implants like these to get more widely used is what they will actually be widely used for.
Of course, when payment becomes actually fully available for implants, I’m sure this will change; though, at this point, am I missing any obvious uses? I’d love to proliferate the acceptance and use of microchips like these, but the real question is how and why people should get them, rather than is it safe like most people ask.
Personally speaking; the NExT I’ve got implanted is more of a novelty. I love the fact our forklifts are RFID rigged at work and starting a forklift with your hand is always a fun party trick. I use it on some gates at work. I use it to start my car, unlock the trunk and soon my doors. (Once I get an overly expensive hard top that is…)
It’s a fun topic to bring up and talk about, inform others that are curious. Freak out my overly religious coworkers and others that ask about it. The whole mark of the beast conversation never gets old.
Other than that, I’ve got the NFC set up to scan my phone with and text my wife through Tasker and let her know when I’ll be home. Along the lines of “Scan NFC → Start Google maps and get estimated time home → Take time and send to wife with cutesy message.”
I have an unholy amount of implants so i’m biased but
replacing my keys for home, work, bike shed, garage, smarlocks in my apartment all at the same time
replacing hardware 2FA
always having a credential on hand on which to clone any credential i’m given
temperature sensing
blinkies for wowing people
but overall i will say that implants have made me an incredibly interesting person to meet, ive never met someone naturally irl who has been exposed to implants so they’re always shocked and it does a LOT of heavy lifting for icebreakers and becoming memorable to people.
Oh wow, that is certainly a great way to automate that phone shortcut! Yeah, I mean, like I said, I personally get a lot of value out of mine, and I am sure a lot of us do, but I guess that’s just not for everyone. Thanks for sharing!
How easy is it to use the xMagic for hotel keys? At least in terms of programming them? Do you need a ProxMark or can you do it from your phone? Does it work with most hotels? I have always wondered about doing that and recently but thought it wasn’t easy, but I really don’t know what I’m talking about. Thanks for sharing!
I’ve never thought of it as something the average person would want. It’s not something an end-user / consumer would have a lot of reasons to go through. Most people have other hobbies and interests to occupy their time and energy, so they’ll be happy to stick with whatever convenient out-of-the-box thing is sold to them on whatever today’s equivalent of TV is without their having to search for it, research it, or learn it.
It’s also worth mentioning that magnets can give you an extra sense. And a few people use then to hold small screws while working on equipment.
But magnets are not safe for attaching stuff for prolonged periods of time.
Glow in the dark and blinky implants have an obvious purpose… And I guess that you could count most silicone subdermals into the aesthetics category as well.
I am in Australia, and most card keys here are Mifare 1K or LF HID using the UID only. Some places have upgraded to Desfire which obviously can’t be copied.
I carry a Flipper Zero in my travel bag and use it primarily, although sometimes I will use MCT on my phone.
Its pretty easy and makes the people I travel with (usually different people I meet through work) get all surprised and suspicious when I swipe my hand to call the elevator or enable floor access etc.
I also have a magnet in the back of my hand. I got it to hold screws etc when working on circuits, but primarily use it to hold bottletop when showing off at the bar…
Have you found that the xMagic scans fine on most readers? If it’s not powerful enough, I think I would choose the flexM1 v2, as I believe it has similar capabilities with a better read. Would MCT work in most cases, or would I need a Flipper? Like, what reason to have a flipper rather than just MCT?
I also have a magnet in my had (Lodestone 6826) and I really love it. Thanks for the help.
Ironically it’s the other way around… readers are the devices which supply power. This is why many battery powered applications like hotel room door locks use lower power fields and something called “tag detection” to conserve battery power. This can make it more difficult for smaller transponders like x-series to be readable by these types of low power readers. You will definitely have an easier time getting reads from a wider range of readers with the flexM1.
Both ZUID and the gen2 version of flexM1v2 can be used with MCT. The ZUID version also supports gen1 back door commands (cannot be turned off), but gen2 support for sector 0 writability (which works with MCT) is a feature you can enable. The only reason you might want a gen2 specific version is that gen1 is detectable by readers looking to thwart magic chips (spoofed IDs).
It works mainly on powered readers and things like elevators where there is a power source outside of batteries. The battery door locks on the rooms are hit and miss when using the HF side unfortunately.
Im late to the party. But with my next i was able to remove all use of keys in my life. I never have to know where keeys are. This is a major dick swing in my eyes. As someone who lacks the mental capacity to remember where things are at all times. This is a godsend… and its james bond af.
Granted i have to devise a device to add rfid capabilities to each system manual. But after that ballake is done. It doesnt have to be done again.
