Am I the only person to have studied barcodes .....?

Question

.... to try to figure out the correlation between the numbers and the bars?

Answer 1

hmm.. I have wondered about them, so no, I don't think you are alone in that!!

YOU ROCK!!

Answer 2

Obviously not, since those whose jobs require them to understand them (eg, people who have to invent a barcode for a new product) must study them.

But if you mean are you the only lay member of the public who is fascinated by them enough to go try and figure out how they work.... no.

I think they are intriguing, especially that different barcode systems have different names like "Seven of Nine" (ok, I know there isn't really a seven of nine, but there is a 2 of 5 and a 3 of 9, referring to the interleaving).

Originally, I was wondering how easy it would be to take a felt tip marker and change the barcode for a DVD player into the barcode of a tin of baked beans. Not because I intended to do that, as I assumed that "they" had thought of the problem, but just wondered how "they" had addressed it.... And it isn't that easy, as it happens. But nevertheless, having entered, I found it was a fascinating subject. I'm now getting interested in RFIDs....

Are we mad or just weird? :-)

Answer 3

Funnily enough I did study bar codes for a few weeks. Can't remember most of it, but I remember that every odd number and every even number tally up somehow - and the first 1 and the last 3 digits are just one number split up.

Vaguely remember that it's not the black bars, it's the white bars and the distance between them that makes up the code too.

Answer 4

Your view maybe right and mine may be wrong but I see the mark of the beast being something more spiritual. 6 is satan's number and 7 is god's number. The number for the beast is 666. Since Revelations is a symbolic book I see this as being symbolic also. I think it is saying the beast's number is 666 because all 3 parts of him are evil - his flesh, his spirit and his thoughts. So in view of that, I see the mark of the beast being his fruits, the thing that lets believers know that he is not of God. And anyone who follows him will have the same evil fruits or spiritual mark as well.

Answer 5

Oh Elflaedia,what are you doing tonight I have studied bar codes now for years,but by 10 0 clock i fall over.The reason will become clear im sure but in the meantime,its that time again

Answer 6

I'm a big fan of EAN-13 barcodes, UPC(A) are very similar, but the trained eye can spot the difference.

Answer 7

No luckily for you I am exceptionally sad aswell.

In 1927 I spent nearly 40 years studying this very topic.

Unfortunately the conclusion was rather conclusively that it's all a load of B ollocks.

Answer 8

As my mother always goes to the store, I always like to see those inferred beams attack the bar code, but recently, I've been wondering how a bar code is significant and how it can be read. I'm sure some binary inputs are involved, but how it works is my question.l

Answer 9

yes i am sad like that as well

i dont think the numbers have anything to do with the amount of bars or thickness it is just a code computers understand


xxx vici

Answer 10

You need a hobby. But if you must decipher barcodes, check this site out: http://www.terryburton.co.uk/barcodewriter/generator/
The bad thing is I have it saved as a favorite, so I must need a hobby, also.

Answer 11

lol, i'm pretty sure there is no correlation...it's just random bars that the computer memorizes to be a certain price.