Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The End of the Bar Code

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the coming-soon-to-everything-near-you dept.

valdean writes "The University of Wisconsin RFID Lab, principally funded by a dozen Wal-mart suppliers including 3M, Kraft Foods, and S.C. Johnson & Son, believes that RFID could spell the end of the ubiquitous bar code. The big draw? Speeding up supply-chain management. Wal-mart's warehouse conveyor belts presently move products at 600 feet per minute... but they want to be faster. And better informed."

7 of 468 comments (clear)

  1. 600 feet per minute... by It+doesn't+come+easy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Zoom. That's 10 feet per second. Reminds me of the I Love Lucy episode where Lucy and Ethel were newly employed at a candy factory with them packing boxes while trying to keep pace with the machine producing chocolate candies.

    Man, better not blink if you work in a Wal-Mart warehouse...

    --
    The NSA: The only part of the US government that actually listens.
    1. Re:600 feet per minute... by Bnderan · · Score: 5, Funny

      600 feet per minute ought to be enough for anybody.

    2. Re:600 feet per minute... by Donniedarkness · · Score: 5, Funny
      That's 6.8 miles per an hour.....

      So this thing tops out at a faster speed than my friend's Geo Metro? Wow....

      This kind of makes me wonder how fast the RIFD-enabled belts at the Wal-Mart warehouses are gonna be.

      --
      Earn a % of cash back from Newegg, Tiger Direct, Walmart.com, and more: http://www.mrrebates.com?refid=458505
    3. Re:600 feet per minute... by mbelly · · Score: 5, Funny

      But the checkouts will be just as slow...

      --
      ~Belly
    4. Re:600 feet per minute... by Anne_Nonymous · · Score: 5, Funny

      Not after we RFID the customers! Imagine the peoplemover at the airport, cranked up to 10 feet per second.

  2. New Section Suggestion by robbkidd · · Score: 5, Funny

    To our Slashdot Overlords:

    Can we get a "The End of ..." section?

  3. The end of ... by Virtex · · Score: 5, Funny

    The End of the Bar Code

    Yep, the bar code is dead. Right after BSD dies. Should be any day now.

    --
    For every post, there is an equal and opposite re-post.