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Barcodes are about to go extinct

107 points · 151 comments · rmason

  1. hollow-moe · · focus · HN ↗
    What a bad piece. Optical is obsolete. Decathlon (here in France at least) has RFID on all their products, they're used as anti-theft, automatic tilling: you just put them in a box at the register and it knows what it is (also kills the chips once paid) and very likely they're used all along the logistic chain.
    1. cyberrock · · focus · HN ↗
      Merchandise point-of-sales tags isn't the only use of barcode or QR codes. Hospitals aren't going to start putting RFID for all equipment, files, and patients.
      1. gertrunde · · focus · HN ↗
        I thought that was exactly one of things RFID was used for?

        Perhaps not for files, but definitely for equipment.

        1. RobotToaster · · focus · HN ↗
          Wouldn't an MRI fry an RFID chip? Seems like a big issue for anything in a hospital.
          1. gertrunde · · focus · HN ↗
            It's more for portable equipment I believe, things like heart rate monitors and those things that control IV drip systems, and probably the beds/gurneys themselves as well.

            I suspect it's less relevant for things that can't be moved. (Or are extremely heavy/difficult to move).

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