Quote:
Originally Posted by jasonkchapman
A similar idea popped up when the new "3D" bar codes were developed. Those are the ones that use a square array of "bars" and a cash register style gun. Apparently, those can store information in a surprisingly dense manner.
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I remember this, and again, I was surprised it didn't take off. Of course, at the time files were growing in size, and people were more concerned about more permanent storage solutions. But in the rush to develop larger and larger solid state flash cards like SD, no one thought about individual documents or books, which need only 1-10MB of storage.
Any flash drive scaled down to that size would be pointless... it's like using a car to drive across the street. But a paper card with 3D-bar codes could be scanned (by specially-made slide-readers, or by a standard hand or flatbed scanner with conversion SW) and saved, resold, or discarded (just like paper books!).
You could also sell books like that in supermarket endcaps, right next to the gift cards.