(credit: JASON ANFINSEN)

Going to Bonnaroo this year? Prepare to wear your credit card on your sleeve. Er, wrist. Concert producers have switched from a paper-based to a microchip-based ticketing system, which means you’ll be wearing your right to be there in a little plastic bracelet on your wrist.

But wait, there’s more! Concertgoers can also choose to embed their credit card information in their bracelets, so they’ll be able to pay for stuff without searching for their wallets. (We all know how much of a hassle that is, right?)

You’ve got to love how easy it’s becoming to spend money. Okay, maybe it’s not such a good thing for our budgets (or our souls) here in the U.S., but think about the implications for people who live in countries with developing economies… Technology like this could eliminate a lot of hurdles to economic participation – kind of like how the invention of the cell phone ended up democratizing long-distance communication in Africa. (In 2005, 1 in 11 Africans had a mobile plan; only 1 in 33 had a land line.)