The entire system is complete wizardry to me. The laser itself is witchcraft but the most amazing part is the database. I could imagine that stores somehow associate a code with a product when they add it to their inventory system but what prevents two manufacturers from using the same bar codes on different products. Is there a master database somewhere and who is responsible for managing it?
Edit: I really appreciate all the answers about the database aspect of this but I am still wondering how the actual laser works. Seems like it has to be fairly simple because the technology has been around for decades, long before ‘modern’ computers.
In: Technology
In addition to all this, one would think the large sellers, Kroger, H-E-B, Walmart can have their internal barcodes without paying anything or telling anyone, as long as they only sell in three own stores.
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