News from my darling wife's employer

The hot news from Texas Instruments:

TI is running in Monday's 111th Boston Marathon. Well, not exactly.
But TI's
technology – small radio-frequency identification (RFID) transponders attached
to runners' shoelaces – helps track athletes' times as they stride over 13
rubber mats placed along the 26-mile course. The transponders transmit each
runner's identification number to antennae on the mats, which sends the data,
including times and locations, to nearby computers for verification at the
finish line. Friends and family can also track the progress of their favorite
runners online or through wireless handheld devices.
TI's technology –
originally developed to track the movement of livestock rather than athletes –
is part of ChampionChips' TimePoint timing system. More than 23,000 athletes are
expected to lace up with TI's technology in the April 16 marathon, the first
major U.S. race to use RFID technology.

I think the portion that reads, "originally developed to track the movement of livestock rather than athletes," says it all for me.