What started as a supermarket stock control device in the mid-1970s has become an area of technology that now has a huge number of applications and in one case has even replaced personal computers. The area in question is bar coding which involves storing information in the form of numbers and letters which are interpreted in the form of a series of bars. The bars and white spaces on the label can then be read by an electronic scanner which puts the code into a database. In the case of retailing, stock data can be automatically updated and price information is sent back to the point of sale. Apart from the technology, the difference between using bar codes and optical character recognition sets such as those used by banks in cheque processing, is that, bar codes are quicker, and faster and cheaper to produce. Around 80% of all goods in Britain are now bar coded and in response to the increasing numbers and applications of bar codes the Bar Code Advisory Service has been set up to promote the adoption of international standards, so that one type of scanner can be introduced – there are currently five. According to the Advisory Service, the diverse uses to which bar codes can be put range from the improbable, such as the labelling of bees to track their pollen collecting routes, to the eminently sensible, the proposed labelling of high currency dollar bills in the US to try and fool criminals. Uses really do seem to be limited only by the ingenuity of the human mind. For example, Video Answers, an offshoot of the Video Arts company, which produces interactive video training, has replaced the personal computer in its hardware package with various bar codes, set out in a workbook. Instead of attaching a computer to the disk drive to control the video disk, a small hand-held wand is attached. Each code contains information to bring out various parts of the disk, for example stopping and starting the video. Launching the Bar Code Advisory Service was its patron the Right Honourable Earl Grey of tea bag fame who had a previous business interest in bar codes and set the service up because he was receiving so many enquiries about bar codes. The service provides free information on all aspects of bar coding. Peter Hicks of the Article Number Association which is involved in bar coding standardisation maintains there is a lot of shoddy software around, not capable of producing codes that meet industry standards. The service is sponsored by the specialist bar code company Microplotter Engineering.
