Today, we'll speak of the possible extinction of bar codes. Possible only, because SmartTags chips based on radio-frequency identification, or RFID, currently are much more expensive than bar codes. Here we go.
The intelligence comes in the form of a Smart Tag, a tiny chip that can store an electronic product code (ePC), a 96-bit long number. That's long enough to uniquely identify every single product in the world. Smart Tags also have a built-in antenna that can send information wirelessly to a special reader, which in turn can send the information over the Internet, where other applications can use it.
Contrast that with the humble bar code: It can tell you that a product is a 12-ounce can of Coke, but can't tell you that it's the 12-ounce can of Coke made at 12:43:52 p.m. in the Philadelphia bottling plant. And bar codes can't tell you anything at all unless they are visually scanned.
The Smart Tag concept is simple enough. The potential applications are staggering: Embed a reader in a delivery truck, and a manufacturer can know exactly where all of its products are, at any stage in the supply chain. Embed a reader at the store exit, and there's no need to have a checkout clerk -- the products could ring themselves up and automatically debit the customer's account.
And BusinessWeek is releasing today an article which will appear in print on July 8 about the same subject. It is called "The End of the Road for Bar Codes." It shows how companies like McDonald's Corp. or Marks & Spencer are using this technology today.
Here are some images taken from this story.
Sources: Sari Kalin, Darwin Magazine, June 1, 2002; Heather Green, BusinessWeek Online, July 8, 2002
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