We quite enjoy watching McDonald & Dodds - an ITV crime series set in Bath with episodes designed for a two hour slot - but we did have an issue with the latest episode
The barcode on a bottle of fizzy wine ain't going to tell you where and when it was bought. There is retail technology based on RFID that could do that, but your standard EAN-13 (a) doesn't have enough data content, and (b) can't be updated
(I don't know of anywhere that actually uses the RFID tech for groceries, even now)
We'll ignore the "it's a bit dark under that bridge" bit, that's addressed elsewhere on the web
@bellinghman WalMart does, for inventory control, but it's not publicly-available information, so you can't scan the chip and find out which store had it.
@bellinghman (They do it on a pallet level, not item level.)
@kithrup Yeah, that's the level it does get deployed at
There was certainly an impulse a few years back to do cheap RFID tags on some products on the basis that people could just wander round the store grabbing items, just place the basket at the till and have the till tot up the bill. The tags would then get updated so you could then walk out without the doors getting upset at possible shop lifting
The 'scan while you shop' option seems to work better over here. And reusable security tags
@bellinghman If I still did physical books, I would *really* want to use my phone to catalog and locate books for me. :)