#UPC barcodes

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Best Place to Purchase UPC Codes and Why They Are Essential for Your Business

Universal Product Codes (UPCs) are a standardized method for identifying products in retail environments. Each product is assigned a unique combination of numbers. Typically, UPCs are purchased from GS1 or resellers and are essential for selling products in stores or on online platforms like Amazon. UPC barcodes are used by sellers who want to list their products on online platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, eBay, Etsy, iTunes, etc. They provide a unique identity and store information about the product. With UPC barcode labels, users can scan the barcodes to access all the information about the products.

For Further Details, Visit Our Website https://www.getupccode.com/where-to-purchase-upc-codes-and-why-do-you-need-them/

[bookmark321]

 UPC BarCode For Amazon Seller in Austin, USA

In the bustling city of Austin, USA, where opportunity meets innovation, Amazon sellers are on a perpetual quest to optimize their strategies for success. One integral tool that shouldn't be overlooked in this journey is the UPC (Universal Product Code) barcode. In this article, we explore the pivotal role UPC barcodes play for Amazon sellers in Austin and why they are an indispensable asset in the competitive realm of e-commerce.

Unveiling the Power of UPC Barcodes for Amazon Sellers

**1. Distinctive Identity in the Digital Landscape:

A UPC code is not just a series of lines; it's the digital fingerprint of your product. In the vastness of online platforms like Amazon, a UPC barcode provides a distinctive identity that sets your product apart.

2. Information at Your Customer's Fingertips:

With the aid of UPC Barcode Labels, your potential customers gain instant access to a treasure trove of information about your product. This streamlined process enhances user experience, building trust and confidence.

3. Affordable Excellence, Not to be Overlooked:

Contrary to the misconception that UPCs are expensive, they are an affordable investment with immeasurable returns. Leveraging Amazon or Flipkart-like e-commerce platforms without the strategic use of UPCs would be akin to neglecting a powerful ally in your business arsenal.

Tailored UPC/EAN Codes to Suit Your Needs

1. Localized Solutions for Austin Sellers:

As an Amazon seller in Austin, you require UPC solutions that align with the local market dynamics. Our UPC/EAN Codes are crafted with a localized understanding to seamlessly integrate into the Amazon marketplace.

2. Unmatched Pricing for Budget-Friendly Solutions:

Recognizing the importance of cost-effectiveness, we offer the best prices in the industry. Our commitment is to provide Austin sellers with affordable UPC/EAN Codes without compromising on quality.

3. Meeting Your Unique Requirements:

Every seller is unique, and so are their needs. Our UPC/EAN Codes are tailored to meet individual requirements, ensuring a personalized and effective approach for Amazon sellers in Austin.

Why Choose Our UPC Codes in Austin, USA?

1. Local Expertise for Local Success:

With a local presence in Austin, we offer insights and personalized assistance based on a nuanced understanding of the local market, giving you a competitive edge.

2. Competitive Pricing for Optimal Resource Allocation:

Our focus on competitive pricing ensures that you receive budget-friendly UPC solutions, allowing you to allocate resources wisely and maximize profitability.

3. Certification Guarantee for Credible Presence:

Rest assured, our UPC codes meet industry standards, providing the necessary certification for a seamless and credible presence on Amazon and other e-commerce platforms. For more details, visit our website https://www.getupccode.com

Elevate Your Amazon Selling Experience in Austin, USA

In conclusion, the strategic use of UPC barcodes is your secret weapon in the journey of Amazon's success in Austin, USA. Don't just sell; empower your business with a distinctive identity, user trust, and affordable excellence. Elevate your Amazon selling experience in Austin by choosing our tailored UPC solutions. Contact us today and embark on a journey of unparalleled success in the dynamic e-commerce landscape of Austin, USA, and beyond.

[subbookmark]

Buy Affordable UPC Codes For Amazon In Austin, USA

UPC Barcodes is basically for sellers who want to sell their product on Online Platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, eBay, Etsy, iTunes, etc. UPC Code (Universal Product Code) is a unique identity that stores information about your product. With the help of UPC Barcode Labels, users can scan their barcodes and get all the information about your product. It could be associated with generating or obtaining UPCs for products. UPC are commonly used in retail for product identification. It is one of the best portals to buy genuine UPC Codes. We provide UPC/EAN Codes as per users' needs. We provide the best price in the industry that you will never get anywhere else. 

[upcs]

Unlocking the Benefits of Purchasing UPC Barcodes for Your Business

When it comes to propelling your business forward, buying UPC barcodes can be a game-changer. Here's how purchasing UPC barcodes can benefit your business in three key ways:

Enhanced Product Visibility: By acquiring UPC barcodes, you can significantly increase the visibility of your products. When customers scan a UPC barcode with their smartphones, they gain access to crucial information such as pricing, descriptions, and customer reviews. This empowers them to make informed purchasing decisions, driving sales and boosting your brand's visibility.

Streamlined Inventory Management: With the help of UPC barcodes, you can revolutionize your inventory management practices. Each barcode represents a unique product, allowing you to accurately track and monitor stock levels. This ensures that you always have sufficient products available to meet customer demand. By avoiding stockouts and optimizing inventory levels, you can improve operational efficiency and reduce costs.

Seamless Integration with Online Marketplaces: Buying UPC barcodes is essential if you plan to sell your products on popular online marketplaces like Amazon. These platforms require UPC barcodes for product identification and listing. By owning your UPC barcodes, you ensure compliance and gain unrestricted access to online marketplaces. This expands your reach, enabling you to tap into a vast customer base and drive more sales.

Experience the benefits of buying UPC barcodes for your business today. Amplify your product visibility, optimize inventory management, and seamlessly integrate with online marketplaces. Take the next step towards success and purchase your UPC barcodes now!

[quickbarcode11]

Indian products typically employ two types of barcodes: UPC EAN barcode. Comprising 13 digits, the most often used EAN-13 barcode format in India is Following a firm prefix, item reference number, and a check digit, the first three numbers show the country code—890 for India. Particularly for goods meant for export to North America, UPC barcodes—which run twelve digits—also find application.

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What Are The Benefits of UPC Code?

UPCs provide several benefits to both businesses and consumers.

They improve speed, efficiency, and production by reducing the need to manually input product information by allowing barcode scanners to instantly identify a product and price check Walmart.

They also allow for considerably more precise inventory tracking than manual counting, allowing retailers and warehouses to know when extra merchandise is required on retail shelves or in warehouses.

When there is a problem with a product and consumers who bought it needs to be notified or a recall issued, UPCs allow items to be tracked from manufacture to distribution to retail locations and even into consumer homes.

For these reasons, Walmart is continuously using this kind of barcode on its products.

See more: https://barcodelive.org/how-to-do-a-walmart-barcode-lookup

[quickbarcode]

Hope you can buy barcodes to track the item simply. Barcodes are reasonable to plan and print. Generally, they cost basic pennies, paying little regard to their motivation or where they will be joined.

[kilopwholesale]

Upc barcode maker

#Upc barcode maker generator

#Upc barcode maker generator

The InDesign Server product is sold separately from the desktop product - please contact Teacup support if you'd like more information about BarcodeMaker for InDesign Server. Follow these steps to print one barcode at a time docx format) b Barcode generator is able to generate QR Codes, Code 128, Code 39 and many other 1D and 2D barcodes Design, customize, and send Generally, scanning the barcode will send a user to a specific URL selected by the maker of the QR code Generally, scanning the barcode will send a user. You can download a fully function trial here. We support JavaScript, AppleScript and JavaScript.īarcodeMaker is fully scriptable and is compatible with InDesign Server. Create thousands of barcodes with the press of a button. Use scripts to create barcodes automatically. Make your barcodes from a spreadsheet straight in InDesign. Mass produce barcodes quickly and easily with DataLinker. Create barcodes Custom barcode labels formats, barcode software for printing and labelling, settings, 40+ barcode types and options for barcode generation. Add a name for the barcode in the title box and more details in the note box. Click on the barcode title box and barcode note if you want to add them in the barcode. including QR-Code, EAN-8, EAN-13, UPC-A, UPC-E, ISBN, ISSN, JAN-8. Fill in the product category information in the barcode data box. Barcode generator, works with Data Merge variables & manually-entered data. Make barcodes from a database with BarcodeMaker and DataLinkerĬreate tens of thousands of barcodes with the press of a button. Select the barcode type: EAN-13, UPC-A, Code 39, or ITF. These symbologies cover a broad range of use cases including product identification, logistics, inventory management, procurement and advertising. The plug-in is easy-to-use and intuitive. Our barcode generator is a simple tool you can use to create QR, UPC-A, EAN-8, EAN-13, code39, code128 and ITF barcodes. You can adjust everything in one simple palette. BarcodeMaker offers different parameters for each barcode.

[bookmark321]

Best Place To Certified UPC Code For Amazon 

UPC Barcodes is basically for sellers who want to sell their product on Online Platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, eBay, Etsy, iTunes, etc. UPC Code (Universal Product Code) is a unique identity that stores information about your product. With the help of UPC Barcode Labels, users can scan their barcodes and get all the information about your product. It could be associated with generating or obtaining UPCs for products. UPC are commonly used in retail for product identification. It is one of the best portals to buy genuine UPC Codes. We provide UPC/EAN Codes as per users' needs. We provide the best price in the industry that you will never get anywhere else. 

[jkwint]

Upc barcode maker

#Upc barcode maker generator

Used by thousands of companies worldwide. This free service can be used to generate individual barcodes or called via URL's to include inline PNG or JPEG. This feature is extremely useful in generating serial-number and inventory barcodes. Use the CGI form below to generate a printable and scan-able barcode in Interleaved 2 of 5, Code 39, Code 128 A, B, or C symbologies. The Serialization part of the Properties panel allows you to define the sequence in which barcodes are printed.

#Upc barcode maker generator

You can set any color you like to the generated bar code. Follow these steps to print one barcode at a time docx format) b Barcode generator is able to generate QR Codes, Code 128, Code 39 and many other 1D and 2D barcodes Design, customize, and send Generally, scanning the barcode will send a user to a specific URL selected by the maker of the QR code Generally, scanning the barcode will send a user. Any object can be exported to other applications.īarcode Generator provides you color designed setting. Other objects, like text and images can be added to you documents. A built-in label database with many of Avery labels, cards, other media type templates are included. Users can create barcodes like EAN, UPC, GS1 DataBar, Code-128, QR Code. IWinSoft Barcode Generator allows you to create different types of barcodes by entering your data and selecting the desired barcode. Each barcode generator listed below will produce ready-to-scan barcodes that. It supports the most popular barcode types, such as: EAN 13, EAN 8, UPCA, UPCE, ISBN, ISSN, Code 128, Code 11, Code 93, Code 39, FIM Codes (3 types), Codabar, ITF14, Postnet, Japanpost customer barcode, Horizontal bars, MSI and Interleaved 2of5, etc. DPI: Dots per Inch print resolution is 300 and our examples below were created at this resolution. There are four variables when generating your barcode. Barcode Generator is a powerful but easy-to-use barcode software that lets anyone generate, export, and print barcodes. wcsqrcode This utility can generate the following barcode symbologies: Code 39, Code 128, Codabar, EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-A and UPC-E.

[kerloniphone]

Upc barcode maker

Upc barcode maker how to#

Command Line Processing - command line barcode generation.

Upc barcode maker how to#

Batch Processing - how to batch–convert text data to barcodes.Vector Barcodes - exporting barcodes to vector formats.PNG Barcodes - exporting barcodes to PNG format.To state it once again, a UPC barcode is simply a 12-digit number that no one else in the world has. There is no information actually stored or encrypted in a UPC barcode. This is how you can know that nobody else in the world will have your 12-digit number. All UPC barcodes originate from a company called GS1 and they can only be sold by GS1 authorized sellers such as. Transparent Barcodes - making barcodes with transparent background A UPC Barcode (aka Universal Product Code) is simply a 12-digit number that nobody else in the world has.ISBN Barcode Generator - how to make ISBN barcodes.NDC Barcode Check Digit Calculator - how to compute NDC check digits.NDC Barcodes - learn about NDC barcodes and how to make them.UPC–A Calculator - compute check digits of UPC–A barcodes.Making UPC–E Barcodes - how to create UPC–E barcodes.Making UPC–A Barcodes - learn to make UPC–A barcodes.EAN–13 Calculator - how to compute EAN–13 check digits.Making EAN–13 Barcodes - standard point–of–sale barcodes.Quiet Zone - making sure the barcodes can be scanned well.Bar Width Reduction - adjusting barcodes to compensate for ink spread.Marks Panel - configuring border, margins and canvas of barcodes.Custom Texts - adding custom text elements to barcodes.Importing Barcodes - importing barcode images.Barcode Management - adding, renaming, cloning and deleting barcodes.User Interface - Barcode user interface explained in details.License Activation - how to activate Barcode software with a license key.Installation - how to install Barcode generator.The changes will be saved automatically.įor more information about the user interface of the software, see the user interface tutorial. Then you can simply click the Back button in the toolbar, or press the Escape key on the keyboard to switch back to the list of the barcodes. When you finished with the barcode, you can save or print it using the toolbar buttons at the top left corner of the window, or drag the barcode with your mouse directly to the application where it is needed. The recommended quiet zone for UPC–E is 5mm, or 0.2 inches. As the UPC–E barcode displays digits on both left and right sides, you may leave the default margin values - there is enough space on both sides of the barcode.

[tonkibath]

Free upc barcode maker

#Free upc barcode maker code

#Free upc barcode maker series

It’s possible to look up a company by their UPC identification on the GS1 US website. The first six to nine digits in a barcode are the company’s identification number. After deciphering the code, the scanner connects with the user’s database, quickly identifying the product that was scanned. Today’s scanners review a barcode, evaluating the size of lines and spaces, each of which stands for a unique character. The black bars can only be read from one direction, but they don’t blur under high-speed scanning, making them ideal for use in commercial warehouses and factories.

#Free upc barcode maker code

In order to bring the bull’s eye code into the digital age, Laurer developed the modern barcode, recognizable on product labels everywhere. engineer, George Laurer, noted, running the bull’s eye past a scanner at high speed - as might happen in a factory setting - had a tendency to blur the code, making it difficult to read. However, the circular design had a problem. Silver and Woodland’s code was modeled after a bull’s eye so that it could be read from any direction.

#Free upc barcode maker series

The system that Silver and Woodland originally came up with was based on a series of circles, compared to the straight lines that define modern UPCs. By devising a system that could be read by an optical scanner, Silver and Woodland reasoned, they could save an enormous amount of time in grocery stores and cut down on cashier errors. Up until this time, cashiers everywhere had to enter an item’s price manually at the register, making the checkout process comparatively slow and tedious. How Barcodes Workīarcodes (or universal product code or UPC) can trace their history back to the 1940s, when inventors Bernard Silver and Norman Joseph Woodland wanted to develop a system for grocery stores that could automatically read product information at checkout. Small businesses need to understand how barcodes work and how they can be deployed in the workplace for streamlining processes, asset management, and employee accountability. However, they’re also essential for internal inventory control or working with suppliers. They’re impossible to miss in a retail setting, where they play a critical role in closing sales.

[greysadv]

Upc barcode maker

#Upc barcode maker how to

Command Line Processing - command line barcode generation.

#Upc barcode maker how to

Batch Processing - how to batch–convert text data to barcodes.Vector Barcodes - exporting barcodes to vector formats.PNG Barcodes - exporting barcodes to PNG format.Transparent Barcodes - making barcodes with transparent background.ISBN Barcode Generator - how to make ISBN barcodes.NDC Barcode Check Digit Calculator - how to compute NDC check digits.NDC Barcodes - learn about NDC barcodes and how to make them.UPC–A Calculator - compute check digits of UPC–A barcodes.Making UPC–E Barcodes - how to create UPC–E barcodes.Making UPC–A Barcodes - learn to make UPC–A barcodes.EAN–13 Calculator - how to compute EAN–13 check digits.Making EAN–13 Barcodes - standard point–of–sale barcodes.Quiet Zone - making sure the barcodes can be scanned well.Bar Width Reduction - adjusting barcodes to compensate for ink spread.Marks Panel - configuring border, margins and canvas of barcodes.Custom Texts - adding custom text elements to barcodes.Importing Barcodes - importing barcode images.Barcode Management - adding, renaming, cloning and deleting barcodes.User Interface - Barcode user interface explained in details.License Activation - how to activate Barcode software with a license key.To state it once again, a UPC barcode is simply a 12-digit number that no one else in the world has. There is no information actually stored or encrypted in a UPC barcode. This is how you can know that nobody else in the world will have your 12-digit number. All UPC barcodes originate from a company called GS1 and they can only be sold by GS1 authorized sellers such as. Installation - how to install Barcode generator A UPC Barcode (aka Universal Product Code) is simply a 12-digit number that nobody else in the world has.The changes will be saved automatically.įor more information about the user interface of the software, see the user interface tutorial. Then you can simply click the Back button in the toolbar, or press the Escape key on the keyboard to switch back to the list of the barcodes. When you finished with the barcode, you can save or print it using the toolbar buttons at the top left corner of the window, or drag the barcode with your mouse directly to the application where it is needed. The recommended quiet zone for UPC–E is 5mm, or 0.2 inches. As the UPC–E barcode displays digits on both left and right sides, you may leave the default margin values - there is enough space on both sides of the barcode.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

It was all downhill after the Cuecat

Sometime in 2001, I walked into a Radio Shack on San Francisco’s Market Street and asked for a Cuecat: a handheld barcode scanner that looked a bit like a cat and a bit like a sex toy. The clerk handed one over to me and I left, feeling a little giddy. I didn’t have to pay a cent.

The Cuecat was a good idea and a terrible idea. The good idea was to widely distribute barcode scanners to computer owners, along with software that could read and decode barcodes; the company’s marketing plan called for magazines and newspapers to print barcodes alongside ads and articles, so readers could scan them and be taken to the digital edition. To get the Cuecat into widespread use, the company raised millions in the capital markets, then mass-manufactured these things and gave them away for free at Radio Shacks around the country. Every Wired and Forbes subscriber got one in the mail!

That was the good idea (it’s basically a prototype for today’s QR-codes). The terrible idea was that this gadget would spy on you. Also, it would only work with special barcodes that had to be licensed from the manufacturer. Also, it would only work on Windows.

https://web.archive.org/web/20001017162623/http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/sep2000/nf20000928_029.htm

But the manufacturer didn’t have the last word! Not at all. A couple of enterprising hardware hackers — Pierre-Philippe Coupard and Michael Rothwell — tore down a Cuecat, dumped its ROM, and produced their own driver for it — a surveillance-free driver that worked with any barcode. You could use it to scan the UPCs on your books or CDs or DVDs to create a catalog of your media; you could use it to scan UPCs on your groceries to make a shopping list. You could do any and every one of these things, because the Cuecat was yours.

Cuecat’s manufacturer, Digital Convergence, did not like this at all. They sent out legal demand letters and even shut down some of the repositories that were hosting alternative Cuecat firmware. They changed the license agreement that came with the Cuecat software CD to prohibit reverse-engineering.

http://www.cexx.org/cuecat.htm

It didn’t matter, both as a practical matter and as a matter of law. As a practical matter, the (ahem) cat was out of the bag: there were so many web-hosting companies back then, and people mirrored the code to so many of them, the company would have its hands full chasing them all down and intimidating them into removing the code.

Then there was the law: how could you impose license terms on a gift? How could someone be bound by license terms on a CD that they simply threw away without ever opening it, much less putting it in their computer?

https://slashdot.org/story/00/09/18/1129226/digital-convergence-changes-eula-and-gets-cracked

In the end, Cuecat folded and sold off its remaining inventory. The early 2000s were not a good time to be a tech company, much less a tech company whose business model required millions of people to meekly accept a bad bargain.

Back then, tech users didn’t feel any obligation to please tech companies’ shareholders: if they backed a stupid business, that was their problem, not ours. Venture capitalists were capitalists — if they wanted us give to them according to their need and take from them according to their ability, they should be venture communists.

Last August, philosopher and Centre for Technomoral Futures director Shannon Vallor tweeted, “The saddest thing for me about modern tech’s long spiral into user manipulation and surveillance is how it has just slowly killed off the joy that people like me used to feel about new tech. Every product Meta or Amazon announces makes the future seem bleaker and grayer.”

https://twitter.com/ShannonVallor/status/1559659655097376768

She went on: “I don’t think it’s just my nostalgia, is it? There’s no longer anything being promised to us by tech companies that we actually need or asked for. Just more monitoring, more nudging, more draining of our data, our time, our joy.”

https://twitter.com/ShannonVallor/status/1559663985821106177

Today on Tumblr, @wilwheaton​ responded: “[T]here is very much no longer a feeling of ‘How can this change/improve my life?’ and a constant dread of ‘How will this complicate things as I try to maintain privacy and sanity in a world that demands I have this thing to operate.’”

https://wilwheaton.tumblr.com/post/698603648058556416/cory-doctorow-if-you-see-this-and-have-thoughts

Wil finished with, “Cory Doctorow, if you see this and have thoughts, I would LOVE to hear them.”

I’ve got thoughts. I think this all comes back to the Cuecat.

When the Cuecat launched, it was a mixed bag. That’s generally true of technology — or, indeed, any product or service. No matter how many variations a corporation offers, they can never anticipate all the ways that you will want or need to use their technology. This is especially true for the users the company values the least — poor people, people in the global south, women, sex workers, etc.

That’s what makes the phrase “So easy your mom can use it” particularly awful “Moms” are the kinds of people whose priorities and difficulties are absent from the room when tech designers gather to plan their next product. The needs of “moms” are mostly met by mastering, configuring and adapting technology, because tech doesn’t work out of the box for them:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/19/the-weakest-link/#moms-are-ninjas

(As an alternative, I advocate for “so easy your boss can use it,” because your boss gets to call up the IT department and shout, “I don’t care what it takes, just make it work!” Your boss can solve problems through raw exercise of authority, without recourse to ingenuity.)

Technology can’t be understood separately from technology users. This is the key insight in Donald Norman’s 2004 book Emotional Design, which argued that the ground state of all technology is broken, and the overarching task of tech users is to troubleshoot the things they use:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/04/29/banjo-nazis/#cuckoos-egg

Troubleshooting is both an art and a science: it requires both a methodical approach and creative leaps. The great crisis of troubleshooting is that the more frustrated and angry you are, the harder it is to be methodical or creative. Anger turns attention into a narrow tunnel of brittle movements and thinking.

In Emotional Design, Norman argues that technology should be beautiful and charming, because when you like a technology that has stopped working, you are able to troubleshoot it in an expansive, creative, way. Emotional Design was not merely remarkable for what it said, but for who said it.

Donald Norman, after all, was the author of the hugely influential 1998 classic The Design of Everyday Things, which counseled engineers and designers to put function over form — to design things that work well, even if that meant stripping away ornament and sidelining aesthetics.

https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/don-norman/the-design-of-everyday-things/9780465050659/

With Emotional Design, Norman argued that aesthetics were functional, because aesthetics primed users to fix the oversights and errors and blind spots of designers. It was a manifesto for competence and humility.

And yet, as digital technology has permeated deeper into our lives, it has grown less configurable, not more. Companies today succeed where Cuecat failed. Consolidation in the online world means that if you remove a link from one search engine and four social media sites, the material in question vanishes for 99% of internet users.

It’s even worse for apps: anyone who succeeds in removing an app from two app stores essentially banishes it from the world. One mobile platform uses technological and legal countermeasures to make it virtually impossible to sideload an app; the other one relies on strong-arm tactics and deceptive warnings to do so.

That means that when a modern Coupard and Rothwell decides to unfuck some piece of technology — to excise the surveillance and proprietary media requirements, leaving behind the welcome functionality — they can only do so with the sufferance of the manufacturer. If the manufacturer doesn’t like an add-on, mod, plug-in or overlay, they can use copyright takedowns, anticircumvention law, patent threats, trademark threats, cybersecurity law, contract law and other “IP” to simply banish the offending code:

https://locusmag.com/2020/09/cory-doctorow-ip/

Many of these laws carry dire penalties. For example, distributing a tool that bypasses an “access control” so that you can change the software on a gadget (say, to make your printer accept third-party ink) is a felony under Section 1201 of the DMCA, punishable by a $500k fine and a 5-year prison sentence.

If Cuecat’s manufacturers had simply skinned their firmware with a thin scrim of DRM, they could have threatened Coupard and Rothwell with prison sentences. The developments in “IP” over the two decades since the Cuecat have conjured up a new body of de facto law that Jay Freeman calls “felony contempt of business model.”

Once we gave companies the power to literally criminalize the reconfiguration of their products, everything changed. In the Cuecat era, a corporate meeting to plan a product that acted against its users’ interests had to ask, “How will we sweeten the pot and/or obfuscate our code so that our users don’t remove the anti-features we’re planning to harm them with?”

But in a world of Felony Contempt of Business Model, that discussion changes to “Given that we can literally imprison anyone who helps our users get more out of this product, how can we punish users who are disloyal enough to simply quit our service or switch away from our product?”

That is, “how can we raise the switching costs of our products so that users who are angry at us keep using our products?” When Facebook was planning its photos product, they deliberately designed it to tempt users into making it the sole repository of their family photos, in order to hold those photos ransom to keep Facebook users from quitting for G+:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/facebooks-secret-war-switching-costs

Companies claim that their lock-in strategies are about protecting their users: “Move into our walled garden, for it is a fortress, whose battlements bristle with fearsome warriors who will defend you from the bandits who roam the countryside”:

https://locusmag.com/2021/01/cory-doctorow-neofeudalism-and-the-digital-manor/

But this “feudal security” offers a terrible temptation to the lords of these fortresses, because once you are inside those walls, the fortress can easily be converted to a prison: these companies can abuse you with impunity, for so long as the cost of the abuse is less than the cost of the things you must give up when you leave.

The tale that companies block you from overriding their decisions is for your own good was always dubious, because companies simply can’t anticipate all the ways their products will fail you. No design team knows as much about your moment-to-moment struggles as you do.

But even where companies are sincere in their desire to be the most benevolent of dictators, the gun on the mantelpiece in Act I is destined to go off by Act III: eventually, the temptation to profit by hurting you will overpower whatever “corporate ethics” once stayed the hand of the techno-feudalist who rules over your fortress. Under feudal security, you are one lapse in corporate leadership from your protector turning into your tormentor.

When Apple launched the Ipad 12 years ago, I published an editorial entitled “Why I won’t buy an iPad (and think you shouldn’t, either),” in which I predicted that app stores would inevitable be turned against users:

https://memex.craphound.com/2010/04/01/why-i-wont-buy-an-ipad-and-think-you-shouldnt-either/

Today, Apple bans apps if they “use…a third-party service” unless they “are specifically permitted to do so under the service’s terms of use.” In other words, Apple specifically prohibits developers from offering tools that displease other companies’ shareholders, no matter whether this pleases Apple customers:

https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#intellectual-property

Note that clause 5.2.2 of Apple’s developer agreement doesn’t say “You mustn’t violate a legally enforceable term of service.” It just says, “Thou shalt not violate a EULA.” EULAs are garbage-novellas of impenetrable legalese, larded with unenforceable and unconscionable terms.

Apple sometimes will displease other companies on your behalf. For example, it instituted a one-click anti-tracking setting for Ios that cost Facebook $10 billion in a matter of months:

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/02/facebook-says-apple-ios-privacy-change-will-cost-10-billion-this-year.html

But Apple also has big plans to expand its margins by growing its own advertising network. When Apple customers choose ad-blockers that block Apple’s ads, will Apple permit it?

https://www.wired.com/story/apple-is-an-ad-company-now/

The problem with app stores isn’t whether your computing experience is “curated” — that is, whether entities you trust can produce collections of software they vouch for. The problem is when you can’t choose someone else — when leaving a platform involves high switching costs, whether that’s having to replace hardware, buy new media, or say goodbye to your friends, customers, community or family.

When a company can leverage its claims to protecting you to protect itself from you — from choices you might make that ultimately undermine its shareholders interests, even if they protect your own interests — it would be pretty goddamned naive to expect it to do otherwise.

More and more of our tools are now digital tools, whether we’re talking about social media or cars, tractors or games consoles, toothbrushes or ovens:

https://www.hln.be/economie/gentse-foodboxleverancier-mealhero-failliet-klanten-weten-van-niets~a3139f52/

And more and more, those digital tools look more like apps than Cuecats, with companies leveraging “IP” to let them control who can compete with them — and how. Indeed, browsers are becoming more app-like, rather than the other way around.

Back in 2017, the W3C took the unprecedented step of publishing a DRM standard despite this standard not having anything like the consensus that is the norm for W3C publications, and the W3C rejected a proposal to protect people who reverse-engineered that standard to add accessibility features or correct privacy defects:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/09/open-letter-w3c-director-ceo-team-and-membership

And while we’re seeing remarkable progress on Right to Repair and other policies that allow the users of technology to override the choices of vendors, there’s another strong regulatory current that embraces companies’ ability to control their users, in the hopes that these big companies will police their users to prevent bad stuff, from controversial measures like filtering for copyright infringement to more widely supported ideas like blocking child sex abuse material (CSAM, AKA “child porn”).

There are two problems with this. First, if we tell companies they must control their users (that is, block them from running plugins, mods, skins, filters, etc) then we can’t tell them that they must not control their users. It comes down to whether you want to make Mark Zuckerberg better at his job, or whether you want to abolish the job of “Mark Zuckerberg.”

https://doctorow.medium.com/unspeakable-8c7bbd4974bc

Then there’s the other problem — the gun on the mantelpiece problem. If we give big companies the power to control their users, they will face enormous internal pressure to abuse that power. This isn’t a hypothetical risk: Facebook’s top executives stand accused of accepting bribes from Onlyfans in exchange for adding performers who left Onlyfans to a terrorist watchlist, which meant they couldn’t use other platforms:

https://gizmodo.com/clegg-meta-executives-identified-in-onlyfans-bribery-su-1849649270

I’m not a fan of terrorist watchlists, for obvious reasons. But letting Facebook manage the terrorist watchlist was clearly a mistake. But Facebook’s status as a “trusted reporter” grows directly out of Facebook’s good work on moderation. The lesson is the same as the one with Apple and the ads — just because the company sometimes acts in our interests, it doesn’t follow that we should always trust them to do so.

Back to Shannon Vallor’s question about the origins of “modern tech’s long spiral into user manipulation and surveillance” and how that “killed off the joy that people like me used to feel about new tech”; and Wil Wheaton’s “constant dread of ‘How will this complicate things as I try to maintain privacy and sanity.”

Tech leaders didn’t get stupider or crueler since those halcyon days. The tech industry was and is filled with people who made their bones building weapons of mass destruction for the military-industrial complex; IBM, the company that gave us the PC, built the tabulating machines for Nazi concentration camps:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust

We didn’t replace tech investors and leaders with worse people — we have the same kinds of people but we let them get away with more. We let them buy up all their competitors. We let them use the law to lock out competitors they couldn’t buy, including those who would offer their customers tools to lower their switching costs and block abusive anti-features.

We decided to create “Felony Contempt of Business Model,” and let the creators of the next Cuecat reach beyond the walls of their corporate headquarters and into the homes of their customers, the offices of their competitors, and the handful of giant tech sites that control our online discourse, to reach into those places and strangle anything that interfered with their commercial desires.

That’s why plans to impose interoperability on tech giants are so exciting — because the problem with Facebook isn’t “the people I want to speak to are all gathered in one convenient place,” no more than the problem with app stores isn’t “these companies generally have good judgment about which apps I want to use.”

The problem is that when those companies don’t have your back, you have to pay a blisteringly high price to leave their walled gardens. That’s where interop comes in. Think of how an interoperable Facebook could let you leave behind Zuckerberg’s dominion without forswearing access to the people who matter to you:

https://www.eff.org/interoperablefacebook

Cuecats were cool. The people who made them were assholes. Interop meant that you could get the cool gadget and tell the assholes to fuck off. We have lost the ability to do so, little by little, for decades, and that’s why a new technology that seems cool no longer excites. That’s why we feel dread — because we know that a cool technology is just bait to lure us into a prison that masquerades as a fortress.

Image: Jerry Whiting (modified) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CueCat_barcode_scanner.jpg

CC BY-SA 3.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

[Image ID: A Cuecat scanner with a bundled cable and PS/2 adapter; it resembles a plastic cat and also, slightly, a sex toy. It is posed on a Matrix movie 'code waterfall' background and limned by a green 'supernova' light effect.]

[barcodebar2d]

What are the difference between EAN and UPC?

The "Universal Product Code" is known as "UPC-A" and EAN number stands for "European Article Number".

You can notice that the EAN and UPC barcodes are identical if you look at the picture above. The bars' width and the distances between them are the same precise width.

The positioning of the numerals below is the only significant difference between these two.

They solely serve as a backup in the event that the barcode cannot be read properly and manual entry of the data into the register or POS is required (point of sale system).

Because GS1 at the time didn't respect the significance of Canada and the USA indicating a country code, it does not appear beneath the barcode in a UPC.

As the bulk of goods sold in both nations come from importers, wholesalers, or producers in the Canada or USA, GS1 believed they could omit the leading zero in the numbers that are visible to humans.

See more: https://barcodelive.org/upc-vs-ean https://www.slideshare.net/CodeBar/upc-vs-ean