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Barcode Beast in Your Kitchen
There are many mysteries about barcodes. This will help you tame
the ones in your pantry by helping you understand them.
First, what about the mythical Barcode Beast? The last book of the
Christian Bible, called Revelation, describes the signs that signal the
end of the world, and tells of a Beast that has a Mark on it. In many
translations, this Mark becomes the number 666 (AKA The Number of the Beast). Some
people are convinced that all UPC barcodes contain this number. This
isn't actually the case.
The only elements that appear in all UPC barcodes are the "guard bars." The
left and right guards consist of three bars, the center five. Since
all digits in the UPC are coded by four bars, those guard bars are not numbers
at all. So, sorry, but no 666 Beast has taken over your kitchen.
However, it seems like barcodes mark everything in the kitchen, and grocery
stores even use them for produce now. This would make them ideally suited
for keeping track of your stock on hand. At least, it would seem so.
So why not just go out and get a barcode reader?
Not everything is as standardized as you might think, at first glance. There
are several problems working with groceries. UPC codes are restricted
to pre-packaged, canned or bottled products. Fresh produce, meat and sale
items rarely use standardized codes. Produce may not have any identifier
at all. Meats and other items sold by weight will frequently have
custom barcodes printed for each package. The first part of the code
might tell you what is in the package, but the second part will probably
be a price calculated against the weight. Many stores will put a special
UPC on an item, which tells you nothing more than the item is on sale for
$3.99!
Barcodes that are painted on glass or printed on clear plastic are extremely
difficult to read and inexpensive barcodes readers have problems with codes
printed around the curve of small items. You've all seen exasperated
checkers key in the code because their expensive laser reader can't manage
to process a barcode.
Another problem is the sheer number of similar items that the average supermarket
stocks. Next time you are in a store, count the number of different
brands of tomato paste. THEN, count the number of different sizes
and brands.
What can a barcode tell you?
A UPC has two main sections, one part tells you who made it, the other
part is assigned by the manufacturer. You may have ten 12-ounce cans
of Hunt's tomato paste at home, but having the barcode won't help much if
you scan the "Contadina Tomato Paste 6 oz" that's on sale. So,
to be successful, a home system using barcodes would have to either translate
each barcode into something you can read or cross-reference all possible
barcodes for similar products. There are products available
that can do the first, but the second process is fundamentally impossible.
Other concerns
The next piece of the puzzle is how do you keep track of items that are sold
in groups (like eggs) or in bulk (like flour)? Or worse, a bulk item
you pour into a canister (such as dry pasta) and throw the bag or box away. What
do you scan when you need more?
What about expiration dates? There is nothing in the UPC to give
you a clue. Scanning items in your home makes sense if the item is
something you collect or rent, like DVDs or books, because each one is unique
and you are unlikely to have more than one. But f ood comes in too
many shapes and sizes for scanning to be very useful in the kitchen, unless
you put your own personal system together, so you know exactly what's what,
and are not confused by equivalent items. On a limited basis, this
will work.
What a portable barcode reader can do for you.
On the other hand, a compact barcode reader with a display can be
very useful for tracking books, DVDs (what you own and what you rent), toys
(like hot wheels), music, and comic books. Coupled with a site
that allows you, your relatives and friends to build wishlists and inventories,
it can be quite handy for gift giving or keeping track of what you have
loaned out to people.
Many companies have tried to build barcode-based systems for managing food,
even going as far as a web-enabled, barcode-reading refrigerator! None of
these efforts accomplished much. We suspect they were designed by
people that only have beer and corn chips in their kitchens.
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