Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!pepper!cmcmanis
From: cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Bar Code Readers.
Message-ID: <37919@sun.uucp>
Date: 5 Jan 88 21:07:39 GMT
References: <2276@crash.cts.com>
Sender: news@sun.uucp
Reply-To: cmcmanis@sun.UUCP (Chuck McManis)
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mountain View
Lines: 23

In article <2276@crash.cts.com> amiguy@pnet01.cts.com (Sean Wolfe) writes:
>Does anyone have any information on Bar Code Readers already being implemented
>on the Amy?  I'm developing some software that will require the checking in
>and out of items, and I think that the Bar Code reader would be the quickest
>and most error free method.. Do they make them for other Computers (of course
>they do) that are parallel rs232 ? ? Any Comments would be appericiated..

Wow, this is a great Idea! Definitely should be an option to the 
gameport.device (you listening Kodiak??:-)) The other thing it has done
is given me an opportunity to go back to some of my '77 and '78 BYTE
magazines for a look at the home made barcode readers that were designed
and used. These articles include software as well as sample barcodes. 
I can visulize a device that has a phototransistor and an LED at the 
tip of it, connected to Port 2 of the Amiga. When you open Port 2 as a
lightpen, it leaves the LED off, when you open it as a Barcode reader,
it turns the LED on. I think this may pass the "how many Amigas will 
this sell?" test. Because having a bar code reader would make the Amiga
useful for keeping inventory of food and stuff. Grocers and other businesses
could use a 500 as a front end to their IBM S/38 scanner systems.

--Chuck McManis
uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis   BIX: cmcmanis  ARPAnet: cmcmanis@sun.com
These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you.