[HN Gopher] Universal Product Code barcode will be supplanted by...
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       Universal Product Code barcode will be supplanted by 2027
        
       Author : pgrote
       Score  : 12 points
       Date   : 2023-04-17 19:46 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.axios.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.axios.com)
        
       | 88913527 wrote:
       | Not a fan. The good thing about UPC is it shows a human-readable
       | serialized representation: it shows the UPC number. So I can pick
       | up an item off the shelf and know exactly what it is: I can
       | cross-check the UPC number against the shelf label's UPC number
       | to verify the price. The QR code has no human-readable element to
       | it. It's a usability issue.
        
         | jsmith45 wrote:
         | Valid GS1 QR codes are still required to include a Human
         | Readable Interpretation right next to the code preferably below
         | it, in similar fashion to UPC/EAN. See
         | https://www.gs1.org/docs/barcodes/HRI_Implementation_Guide.p...
        
       | PaulHoule wrote:
       | Cheap UPC readers are slow and unreliable, QR codes got their
       | name from "quick response" because they were designed to be read
       | by industrial robots moving 40 mph with _the image processing
       | technology of 1994_.
       | 
       | Our local "reuse center"
       | 
       | https://ithacareuse.org/
       | 
       | uses QR codes for what other stores use UPC codes for with great
       | success.
        
       | 8jef wrote:
       | Good things about classic barcodes is that their numbers can be
       | used in online searches to identify specific products, and they
       | are short enough to be typed by cashiers, in case the bars can't
       | be scanned.
       | 
       | The way I see the new 2D ones, they are really unique per item
       | encoded URLs that will identify the person who buys the product
       | through card account number cross referencing (like it's done
       | already). In an incresing survellance economy, I see a market
       | for:
       | 
       | 1. Apps that will decipher future 2D codes and spill out all
       | their secrets
       | 
       | 2. Anonymizing payment solutions through customer data
       | obfuscation, like analog to VPN for credit cards
        
       | vilhelmen wrote:
       | I, for one, am thrilled for a bar code to "take you on an
       | experience that the brand wants you to have"
        
         | 8jef wrote:
         | You future mileage may vary. And the potential for abuse is
         | quite real. For one, the fact that they could instantly bind
         | serial numbers to idividuals upon purchase is scary.
         | Corporations could limit the right to resale and impose
         | warranty limitations, for starter.
        
           | JohnFen wrote:
           | Just pay cash. If you're serious about avoiding having your
           | purchases tracked and analyzed, you're already doing that
           | anyway.
        
       | kuratkull wrote:
       | The first 3 numbers show the origin country for a product. Good
       | if you want to prefer some and avoid others.
        
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       (page generated 2023-04-17 23:02 UTC)