The barcode revolution

I think we all recall a couple of weeks back when the Google doodle was a barcode? In memoriam of the patent being offered for the barcode system? Yes, good: at the time I pointed out that the barcode, however humble it may seem, has actually made us all hugely wealthier. For it's made the entire logistics chain more efficient. It can even plausibly be congratulated on having made recessions shallower than they used to be.

What I hadn't realised is that the revultion is still ongoing. Take a look at this for example: Symbol/Motorola MC75 handheld computer.This allows you to be working remotely, away from the main systems and barcode scanners, yet scan, send it in over the wireless network and update stock levels etc immediately. Think how useful that would be in doing stock checks in the warehouse etc!

This is the bit that I didn't know, that the barcode, however humble it may seem, is still continuing to make us all richer.