Is it really just not a US thing? Are these used in other parts of the world?
Edit: I think I'm actually asking about iButtons/Dallas Keys, now that I'm re-investigating, but any input is welcome!
The only place I've run across it in the wild is inside an SGI Octane. I thought it was a battery to replace, but it was actually a "Number in a Can" iButton. It's a read only memory that contains the MAC address and some other stuff. Software gets licensed to this ROM, so if your system breaks you can take the iButton out and move it to the replacement.
They were pretty nifty for their time, but I guess completely superseded by RFID.
Always annoyed me that it clearly has 2 wires (power/signal + ground).
Same with "TWI" (Two-Wire Interface) , a name that Atmel (now Microchip) uses for I2C bus. There are 3 wires there (SDA, SCL, ground). Or 4, if you count power.