Labelling machines have definitely reached the computer age. In
the old days labelling machines just had to print a label for a
package or container that identified the product, the brand and
perhaps a “use by” date. These days labelling machines also
print bar codes on boxes, cans, jars, tags, and other methods of
identification that utilize labels, and by imprinting the bar
codes are able to place a great deal of information about a
product onto the product itself, something that was not possible
before the bar code was invented, and before labelling machines
were altered in order to imprint these codes. Most people see
the bar codes on the items they buy, imprinted by labelling
machines and never give them much thought, which is too bad
because the technology behind them is quite impressive. The bar
code is a machine readable presentation of information that
stores data in the spaces between printed lines. Or, they can
come in dot patterns, in concentric circles, or even be hidden
in images. They are scann