When Will Barcodes Die?

On the anniversary of the barcode, it struck me waiting in line in Sainsbury's that this scene - of aisle after aisle of supermarket soldiers steadily bleeping products - will seem quaintly odd in historic films of the future. I don't think we as old people will bemoan the loss of it though, however nostalgic it makes us. It cannot be long before we can walk through a single scanner with our shopping basket brimming full and it simply give us a total - perhaps detecting our loyalty card at the same time (if we are laissez faire enough with our personal information to have one) and debiting us after confirmation of the cost. Whether the technology that delivers this is RFID tags or something else.

I don't believe we'll all be home shopping by then either, as there is something about picking up your own produce that will mean people will continue to want to do their own shopping, however much they bitch about the inconvenience.

Estimated time of death? 2013