How has the locksmith industry changed?

Locksmithing is one of the oldest professions there is. With over 4,000 years since the first lock was created and used, there has been a large about of change in the area of locksmithing simply because of time and technology. To understand where the locksmith industry has come from it is important to look at where it is currently standing.
The most common form of locksmith now is the mobile locksmith service that companies such as Phila-Locksmith provides. These are when a “locksmith” comes to your home to complete a wide range for repair or installation services, whatever it is you may need. However, these “locksmith” are not truly locksmiths by definition because they no longer make the lock themselves from scratch.
Due to the rise in mass production and the ease that machines allow us to produce a large amount of locks it is no longer necessary for a locksmith to spend hours handcrafting his own locks. While this advancement in technology is great for ease of use a certain amount of security has been lost in recent years with the rise of cheap locks. Some cheaper versions found in stores can actually have the same key as another lock in a different box, leaving someone unknowingly with a copy of your house keys. When locksmith created their locks by hand, each lock was completely different and constructed so that every lock would turn out slightly different.
Just because locksmiths no longer create their own locks does not mean that they are any less skilled then they once were. While the creation of cutting edge lock technologies can be easy the maintenance of these locks is very difficult. This is especially true with respect to car lock and key functions. The advent of transponder keys has been a revelation in the automotive security sector. In order for cars with transponder keys to start they must have a matching key that fits the lock but that key also must have a computer chip within the top of it to send an electronic message to the car to have it start. Which means no chip, no starting your car.
This high end technology has led locksmith to become half locksmiths half computer programmers, this trend only looks to further itself in the future as new higher security locks are being manufactured. We are already seeing bio-metric readers being used on residential homes, which allows you to lock and unlock your front door with just your fingerprint, so the future of these technological advancements is limitless.