Are Bar Codes multitasking ?

Bar Codes have been evolving since the 18 month test by Kroger in 1972 at their store in Cincinnati. With the new GS1 data bars supporting the Sunrise 2010 initiative, bar codes have begun a new journey.

Check out this New York Times article http://tinyurl.com/kth45h

Benefits include additional data capture (tracking expiration date for example), increased speed, cost avoidance, traceability, no price limitations, more visibility and accuracy.

I particularly like the support for better category management, shrink reduction and component linking.