Just been to the supermarket and didn't check the cupboard before I went. I knew there was some turkey gravy in there but didn' know how much or more importantly when the sell by date was. When I did some thinking I tought of an amazingly complex solution to this little problem. If the manufacturer of the food had encoded the sell by date and the quantity in the product on the barcode I could have a cheap scanner at home to scan in the products as I put them in the cupboard. I would then have the inventory of my cupboards that would be on my PC and ultimatly I could have a link to my smartphone that allows me to check the details of my turkey gravey while in the supermarket.

Obviously it does not stop there, because my pc is connected to the internet and knows what my cupboards contain then it could tell me what tasty meals I can prepare. It could also tell me what I need when I go shopping based upon what I usually have but don't have at the moment and I suppose it could suggest products based upon recipes, ie. I have 80% of the products to make beef wellington but I just need some flour.

The program could also tell me when to throw out things based on sell by date.

As I though about it a bit more I thought it may be a bit much for manufacturers to impliment a system like this and also for everyone to buy a bar code reader so I thought an easier way would be to have the supermarket email you with a file. as the product is scanned in at the checkout the details of the product are taken from their computer and e-mailed to you in a file readable by your program.
-- farker, Dec 26 2004

Metro http://www.future-s.../1000154/index.html
You could move into here. [skinflaps, Dec 26 2004]

Microwave Dinner Bar Codes Microwave_20Dinner_20Bar_20Codes
related idea by [crayfish] (re: preparation instructions) [krelnik, Dec 26 2004]

Ingredients Barcoding Ingredients_20Barcoding
another related idea by [imagin8or] (re: allergic reactions to food) [krelnik, Dec 26 2004]

Barcode Scanners http://www.scansmart.com/
Find the barcode scanners to do the scanning [mickey, Jun 11 2008]

Linky.
-- skinflaps, Dec 26 2004


this could also be good for bar codes on clothing which is linked up to your bathroom scales. if you are too fat to fit into size 30 trousers anymore, lights in your clothing start flashing. also when the same pair of lime green trousers suddenly go out of fashion a message will arrive on your phone/pc.
-- benfrost, Dec 26 2004


I like the linking to the clothes.... if it found out you bought a bigger size it could reccomend lower fat food
-- farker, Dec 26 2004


NOPE. not digging it. It's too 'top down'.
-- mensmaximus, Dec 26 2004


I have a somewhat simpler idea: have a master list (or site) to locate the manufacturer for any given UPC code (since codes are organized by manufacturer, this list would be of reasonable size). Manufacturers would be encouraged to have a web site set up to perform a standardized-format query for the UPC codes of the products they make which could then take people directly to a page with information about the product.
-- supercat, Dec 27 2004


I'd like to see a bar code on my purchased goods that I can enter into my computer to see if there was a cash over-flow from the daily cash register receipts, in the till, that day and where we the public can go to pick it up.
-- mensmaximus, Dec 27 2004



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