Thursday, July 17, 2008

Barcodes


I was thinking the other day that what if people had barcodes on their feet? Technology has advanced so much that it is difficult to believe people haven’t already considered this a possibility. Wouldn’t it be so very easy if everyone had barcodes on their feet? That way one could keep track of wherever one went, because most places would have these electronic scanners that would scan people as and when they entered and left someplace. This way one would leave electronic footprints behind, and using a secure password, one could find out where one was at such and such date. That will save so much trouble remembering when did you go to get your last dental checkup, when did you get that milk from the grocery store that turned sour before its expiry date, or when had you gone to visit your ex-girlfriend last in the year 1999. The information would be confidential, and no one but you would have access to it. Of course authorities like the cops could get hold of such information if they had permission to do so. Certainly that would make the job of tracing down criminals and suspects much easier. At the end of the day, if you are in the habit of maintaining a diary, you could connect yourselves to a device and scan the chip to keep a record of the places you went to. This way you could also trace the places you have been to when you visited Montana in 2005, the number of miles that you have jogged since January this year, and in general join the dots and create a map of your footprints on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Mothers will no longer have to worry about their babies getting lost, and it would help healthcare systems provide better service, knowing exactly when and for what reason you went to the doctor. And all it would take is a simple barcode on your feet.

What do you think?

sunshine

13 comments:

maxdavinci said...

it also makes u traceable. Hence you are easy to locate anywhere and the govt can track your movements.

but then its a tradeoff...

sunshine said...

No, I meant that no one can trace you without permission. The code is password protected, just like having an email account. Trying to crack the code would be breach of privacy, a punishable offense, unless of course you are a crime suspect.

Zach Taylor said...

would it be like a chip inserted in the body? something ppl can choose to wear. will it be mandatory. If it is mandatory, there's going to be a furor. And there is high probability of Abuse. Who is going to maintain the huge database of tracking this info. If its going to be the government..its like bigbrother. If its not mandatory, some of your advantages like finding criminals wouldn't be possible, obviously. a majority of the ppl don't even like to put their medical records online. so putting all their activities in a db, no one in their right mind would be willing to agreet to that.

Unknown said...

U can also have a history abt the patients health system and at times of crisis u just scan him and know if hes diabetic, etc...
U can also have a history of his past relationships and that for some ppl is critical :D

sunshine said...

People, you all are missing out on an important thing, that only I will have an access to the barcode at my feet.. no doctors, no prospective spouse, no parent, no one but I will have an access to the code, unless I am a crime suspect and the FBI needs to trace me.... How does the idea sound now?

Sandeep said...

Hey, actually barcodes are optically sensitive codes, hence you will have to remove your footwear to expose the barcode whenever you want yourself to be scanned. Rather than that you can have an RFID which wirelessly tracks your location, And in addition to that it can be used as a unique ID that that will monitor all your bank accounts, social security number, authentication for the passport verification etc ..... Something like an electronic database of all the people in the world, Wat say ?

ken said...

I don't know why I love the uncertainties in life, some of the human frailties are the ones which make us human - the tendency to forget some incidents, something which strikes you at a place and you cherish it for life - we are just a big mishmash of emotions and i think no machine can or should substitute it, what say ?

nits said...

hey... lots of discussion about merits and demerits of such a systems.... i wouldn't comment on that..

however, i would like to draw your attention to a different but related technology... RFID, not barcode... it has many better features than a barcode...
if mandatory, it can be attached to /inserted into your body... if its optional... u can wear it like a watch or any other accessary....

and ya... it would be real fun to if u can track all your movements...

what an idea... :)

Urv said...

Wait till 2050. Or watch Love story 2050 :)

And congrats on 3 years of blogging. Way to go :D

AB said...

ohh god.. people are getting serious here. RFIDs, SMART CARDS, blah blah...

waise... Why not have a Barcode on the forehead.. you may use it as a fashion accessory.. Red, blue and Green Barcodes on the forehead..??

People will say: Uee maa, tera barcode mere barcode se fashionable kaise???

Inim Aduos said...

That is one of the most brilliant ideas I have heard in all my life. You are so smart. The other day I was thinking of having an appreciation day without exchanging any material gifts; people simply appreciating others in words. People trying to find out the best in others and telling them so. But your idea outbeats everything.

Jass said...

LOL! Technically speaking there is better stuff out there than barcode with a boring scanner and its limitations. But lets ignore that. Brilliant idea for dumb people like me. OMG! I can so know what i was doing on mar 21 2002 or whatever! I want this thing! I want it now!

Philotics said...

Smart idea indeed sparking some interesting discussions.