4 ms·

Just add more digits to the number. Make it a uuid and put a qr code on the inside of the back cover for easy data entry.

ocdtrekkie 8y ago
"Just adding more digits" ignores the whole point of the problem: That ISBNs live within (a subset of) the number space of EAN codes, which are used globally for all sorts of products: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Article_Number https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Article_Number And that software systems all over the planet are built to handle specific numbers in specific formats. "Just add more digits" requires a global shift to a new format, which will take many, many years to accomplish. The shift from ISBN-10 to ISBN-13 took years, and there are articles about "are you ready for ISBN-13?" out there. Like, this is a Y2K-type issue. Sure, another expansion is inevitable, but if, like the author, your goal is to sell books in a lot of places right now, you need a number in a fairly limited scope of available numbers that work with distribution systems people actively have. It'd be like if you told someone they didn't need an IPv4 address because IPv6 addresses were available. That's all fine and good unless you have customers on IPv4.
- mavhc 8y ago
  IPv6 people realised that technology enables exponential growth and made their space 79 billion billion billion times larger, unlike barcodes which only went 1000 times larger. On the other hand people actually use 13 digit barcodes.
throwaway2016a 8y ago
That's fine except the #1 reader of these codes are Point of Sales machines. Most of which can only read 2D barcodes and a specific subset of them at that. What you are describing would require almost every retail bookseller in the world who wants to sell these books to do a hardware upgrade. Not to mention distributors and everyone else along the supply chain. And libraries. And that's just the hardware. The software would need updating too as I guarantee you that most of it is written assuming ISBN format (length, checksum, character set, prefix, etc).

ocdtrekkie 8y ago

"Just adding more digits" ignores the whole point of the problem: That ISBNs live within (a subset of) the number space of EAN codes, which are used globally for all sorts of products: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Article_Number https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Article_Number And that software systems all over the planet are built to handle specific numbers in specific formats. "Just add more digits" requires a global shift to a new format, which will take many, many years to accomplish. The shift from ISBN-10 to ISBN-13 took years, and there are articles about "are you ready for ISBN-13?" out there. Like, this is a Y2K-type issue. Sure, another expansion is inevitable, but if, like the author, your goal is to sell books in a lot of places right now, you need a number in a fairly limited scope of available numbers that work with distribution systems people actively have. It'd be like if you told someone they didn't need an IPv4 address because IPv6 addresses were available. That's all fine and good unless you have customers on IPv4.

mavhc 8y ago
IPv6 people realised that technology enables exponential growth and made their space 79 billion billion billion times larger, unlike barcodes which only went 1000 times larger. On the other hand people actually use 13 digit barcodes.

throwaway2016a 8y ago

That's fine except the #1 reader of these codes are Point of Sales machines. Most of which can only read 2D barcodes and a specific subset of them at that. What you are describing would require almost every retail bookseller in the world who wants to sell these books to do a hardware upgrade. Not to mention distributors and everyone else along the supply chain. And libraries. And that's just the hardware. The software would need updating too as I guarantee you that most of it is written assuming ISBN format (length, checksum, character set, prefix, etc).