1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:09,120 I'm going to tell you about something. Images with data stored inside them. And 2 00:00:06,560 --> 00:00:14,880 you might ask, "What are you rambling on about now, Lionus? Are you talking about 3 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:16,520 like crazy magic eye pictures or 4 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:20,640 something more sinister?" No, actually, what I'm 5 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:26,880 talking about is something very mundane. Barcodes. those like square liny images 6 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:31,679 found on everything from serial boxes to serial killers that store information in 7 00:00:29,439 --> 00:00:36,239 sequences of lines that can be read and interpreted by machines. But where did 8 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:41,040 they come from? Well, Norman Joseph Woodland, inspired by a conversation 9 00:00:38,480 --> 00:00:45,760 that he overheard and taking inspiration from Morse codes dots and dashes, 10 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:50,640 theorized that by shining a bright light at a series of elongated dots and 11 00:00:48,079 --> 00:00:55,120 dashes, then using a machine to read the pattern of light reflection back to a 12 00:00:52,719 --> 00:01:00,079 receiver, remember, black absorbs light and white reflects it, one could quickly 13 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:04,239 read stocking codes for groceries, dramatically simplifying records keeping 14 00:01:02,239 --> 00:01:09,240 and speeding up the customer experience. in one fell swoop. Well, the theory was 15 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:15,760 solid, but in practice, while it did work, the first attempt was the size of 16 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:18,080 a desk and used a 500 W bulb that got so 17 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:22,080 hot it could light paper on fire. Not exactly practical to deploy for price 18 00:01:20,479 --> 00:01:27,439 checks in the aisles at the local Toys R Us. Am I right? But the proof of concept 19 00:01:24,799 --> 00:01:32,799 was enough that when combined with laser technology, a 1 matt helium neon laser 20 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:37,439 in the early days and more recently those super awesome disco damp party 21 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:41,600 ones that be all like, "Yo, that's a jar of Marmite from any angle within a 22 00:01:39,439 --> 00:01:47,439 fraction of a second, barcodes became the most efficient way to quickly read a 23 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:51,759 string of alpha numeric characters. But while all barcodes look pretty darn 24 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:56,320 similar to the naked eye and share common features like a start and end 25 00:01:54,240 --> 00:02:01,119 code, so they can be read correctly regardless of orientation. There are a 26 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:06,399 variety of different standards with different characteristics with UPC being 27 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:11,920 the most common that encode data in different fashions and can only be read 28 00:02:09,119 --> 00:02:15,360 by compatible scanners and software. So watch out for that when you're creating 29 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:20,239 barcodes to itemize your stamp collection. Another thing that all 30 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:25,280 barcodes share is that practically speaking they are limited to about 20 31 00:02:22,879 --> 00:02:31,680 alpha numeric characters. That my friends is where QR or quick response 32 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:34,879 codes developed in 1994 come in. These 33 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:37,120 consist of black dots arranged in a 34 00:02:34,879 --> 00:02:41,680 square grid on a white background. And they've got a couple of significant 35 00:02:38,879 --> 00:02:46,640 advantages. While the venerable barcode functions in just one dimension, QR 36 00:02:44,319 --> 00:02:53,519 codes work in both the horizontal and vertical and can hold up to 350 times 37 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:56,560 the information of a UPC barcode with 38 00:02:53,519 --> 00:02:58,879 finer or higher DPI prints capable of 39 00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:03,200 holding more information than fuzzy ones. On top of that, they have built-in 40 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:08,400 error correction, making them less susceptible to damage from water, wear 41 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:12,879 and tear, or killer penguins. And this was more relevant before phone cameras 42 00:03:10,239 --> 00:03:17,760 got so badass. They are much easier to read with a camera versus a specialized 43 00:03:15,599 --> 00:03:22,159 reader. Meaning that throwing a QR code onto your product will allow a marketer 44 00:03:20,159 --> 00:03:25,599 to direct smartphone equipped shoppers to see more detailed product 45 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:30,879 information, check out educational videos, and more. Cool, right? So, what 46 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:35,040 does the future hold for the barcode, though? It's hard to say. 40 years of 47 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:39,760 dominance would suggest that it's not going to be completely overthrown 48 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:42,720 anytime soon. But that doesn't mean that 49 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:48,480 time is standing still. And 3D codes where height can also be used to store 50 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:50,959 data already exist. But with the way 51 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:54,799 that 24/7 internet connectivity and cloud-based image recognition are 52 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:58,799 advancing, I'd say a more likely long-term replacement, even if we're 53 00:03:56,799 --> 00:04:03,120 still a few years away from it, is simply pointing your camera, or looking 54 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:07,280 forward even further, your augmented reality glasses or contact lenses at 55 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:13,120 something and having its key stats show up in your peripheral vision. So, it' be 56 00:04:09,439 --> 00:04:15,280 kind of like Tinder, but for everything. 57 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:19,280 Speaking of the future and looking forward, wouldn't it be cool if instead 58 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:22,639 of like sitting at your desktop computer at the end of the day and crunching all 59 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:26,639 of your accounting for your small or home business, you could just do that 60 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:30,840 stuff while you're on the go with your smartphone using an online tool that's 61 00:04:29,280 --> 00:04:35,520 always connected. Oh, right. Fresh Books. All the little details about your 62 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:40,160 cash flow and your business can be kept in one place with Fresh Books. You can 63 00:04:37,919 --> 00:04:45,840 do things like log your hours, uh, show a full history of each invoice, and even 64 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:49,759 snoop on your clients to see if they've viewed that invoice, which at which 65 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:55,919 point there is no excuse for not having paid it, and billing them through 66 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:58,160 FreshBooks via credit card directly. So, 67 00:04:55,919 --> 00:05:02,800 FreshBooks is basically the tool that lets you spend the time doing what 68 00:05:00,639 --> 00:05:06,800 you're supposed to be doing, working, as opposed to fussing about with paperwork. 69 00:05:05,199 --> 00:05:09,520 And you can get started today by heading over to 70 00:05:08,199 --> 00:05:15,680 freshbooks.com/techquicki, entering techquicky in the how did you hear about us section, and starting a free trial 71 00:05:13,479 --> 00:05:18,240 now. So, thanks for watching, guys. 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