[IP] bar-coded fish
Begin forwarded message:
From: Rod Van Meter <rdv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: August 18, 2004 8:54:29 PM EDT
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: bar-coded fish
Reply-To: rdv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Dave,
For IP, if you wish...
In Japan, it is now common to go to the grocery store, such as a chain
attempting to give customers a "small-town grocer" feel, and see small
signs above the cucumbers with a photo and short bio of the grower,
especially if the produce is nominally organic.
We all know it's possible to track your UPS and FedEx packages on the
web.
Now, those technologies are coming together with cell phones with
built-in cameras to allow customers to get more detailed information
about the provenance of their fish. A subsidiary of NTT DoCoMo is
piloting a web-based system (really, i-mode-based) to show you who
caught the fish, and where and when; the data could theoretically
extend to the entire shipping chain.
A two-dimensional bar code will be printed and affixed to the
styrofoam container when the ship reaches port. Customers with the
right kind of cell phone (most newer DoCoMo i-mode phones have the
capability) can snap a picture of the bar code and will automatically
be taken to a web site containing all of the info.
All well and good, though there are almost limitless opportunities for
forging data or substituting fish, and of course, this will be turned
into another advertising medium (the current primary use of these bar
codes is in e.g. newspaper ads, though DoCoMo touts them appearing on
bus stop time schedules to get you up-to-date info).
For the moment, the article (minus the spiffy graphic from the print
edition) is online, though the Daily Yomiuri's web site seems not to
archive articles indefinitely:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20040816wo11.htm
(Personally, I would be happier to see a link to a test of mercury
levels in a fish from the same batch, though such negative info is
unlikely to become available; I worry, but not enough to stop my girls
from eating fish, which would be impractical in this country anyway.)
--Rod
-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as roessler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To manage your subscription, go to
http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip
Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/