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But why was IBM’s barcode was superior to RCA? The article just skips over why there was any debate in the first place, other than RCA wanting it because they a
by setr 3y ago
But why was IBM’s barcode was superior to RCA? The article just skips over why there was any debate in the first place, other than RCA wanting it because they already had it
- FirmwareBurner 3y agoI can fathom a guess why IBM was better than RCA just from looking at them. Firstly, RCA offered half the information density in the same physical space, assuming line width being equal between the two due to the data being in the radius of the circle, meaning the rest was redundant. And secondly, paralel lines ware most likely easier to accurately print quickly by cheap printers of the time than concentric circles.
- tnecniv 3y agoThe advantage to the RCA one is you can scan it at any angle, but I feel like that’s a small benefit in practice
- snakeyjake 3y agoThey fixed that fairly quickly in supermarkets when they introduced the star-shaped scanning surface with 6(?) lasers that could scan MOST items with a single swipe so long as the barcode was pointing down. And the big ol' red and green lights that flashed when you did it right or wrong. Like this one: https://www.flickr.com/photos/42444189@N04/18522348892 https://www.flickr.com/photos/42444189@N04/18522348892 I barely remembered it it's been so long since I worked a checkout one summer.