Determined not to learn from history, Microsoft is pushing a new barcode called HCCB, which will allow about 3.5kbytes to be encoded in a square inch of multicolored waste. It seems that somebody over in Redmond thought that consumers would want to go through the hassle of scanning/photographing those patches just to see “promotional material” — probably some form of advertising.

Sorry guys, consumer-oriented bar codes have been done numerous times, and the markets have always rejected them. Remember the CueCat? How about the Cauzin Softstrip? Didn’t think so.

(This post is part of the 100/100/100 challenge)