This further motivated me to investigate my cheque books, building society, health care, passport, driving licence, insurance and related documents, which totalled a further 23 items. My mind then turned to addresses: home, office, telephone, e-mail, home page, national insurance, pension, and more came to a further 32 items.

Surely this is wrong and cannot last. Who wants to live this way?

Reflect on the madness of a world awash with 21st century technology embedded in 16th century processes; the inconvenience of the train ticket, coinage and rubber-stamp mentality stand out. From passport control at airports to supermarkets, waiting and queueing are now endemic.

Just how much waiting time does a loaf of bread or an apple warrant? What is a reasonable proportion of the total cost? Well, most people get paid more than one apple a minute or pack of sandwiches an hour. On this basis, buying a house or a car is very efficient.

But, drive two hours to the airport, arrive two hours early to check in, fly for nine hours to America, and then spend over an hour waiting to get into the country because someone has to flick through the paper pages of your passport. Having confirmed it is you, your hand-crafted customs and immigration declarations are the final barrier to entry.

Then, travel an hour to a hotel and spend 15 minutes checking in because they too have to get all your card details.

Travel within the EU and the proportion of wasted time is far greater by virtue of the shorter flight times. So - queueing exceeds goods.

Buying everything from socks to petrol, it is the same. Information-processing by humans is the limiting factor. What should we be doing?

A single chip on a smart card can now store all the above information and much more. Our medical records, insurance, passport, bank details and employment history could be written into the one device. Add a short-range wireless transmitter-receiver, and we have a personal transponder - just like an aircraft. We can be identified and information accessed or updated with no physical connection. So in principal, all our problems are over. The world goes at our pace, we are in control.

Of course, there are worries about security. Suppose someone stole your card, or you lost it, or worse still the information on it was stolen electronically. Perhaps a PIN is insufficient protection, and anyway, with this sophistication who wants to keep punching buttons? Perhaps an electronic signet ring would do the trick. One thing for sure, it could not be more insecure than the paper and plastic systems we use today.

Logically, a better scheme would be a chip implant. Just a small slice of silicon under the skin is all it would take for us to enjoy the freedom of no cards, passports, or keys. Put your hand out to the car door, computer terminal, the food you wish to purchase, and you would be instantly recognised and be dealt with efficiently. Think about it: freedom - no more plastic.

Peter Cochrane holds the Collier Chair for the Public Understanding of Science & Technology at the University of Bristol. His home page is:
http://cochrane.org.uk