‹ BackHN Continuity

Thread

Barcodes are about to go extinct

107 points · 151 comments · rmason

  1. seanmcdirmid · · focus · HN ↗
    At family mart in China, some of the pastries are in bags with a QR code and a bar code. If it accidentally scans the QR code the self checkout (not in English) goes into a weird mode and I have to get help. So I just learned to cover the QR code for any packaging that had both it and a bar code on the same side.
    1. yoz-y · · focus · HN ↗
      Yeah. But this is a problem this can fix, in theory. Instead of having multiple codes you could just have one with the info for every piece of the chain that needs it.
    2. thenthenthen · · focus · HN ↗
      This doesnt happen in English mode? I guess it tries to interpret a payment code but then obviously throws an error. Protip you can scan your products and then show payment code, or tap nfc, no need to touch the screen at any point (except for 18+ products)
      1. sokoloff · · focus · HN ↗
        I read it as “the self-checkout that is using a language I don’t know throws an error that I therefore can’t read.”
      2. seanmcdirmid · · focus · HN ↗
        Family Mart Kiosks in China don't have an english mode, at least they don't in Chengdu. Anyways, the error screen I'm shunted to felt like it would have been Chinese regardless.
Open on Hacker News to reply ↗

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.