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Cauzin Softstrip was the first commercial 2D barcode format. Introduced in 1985, it could store up to 1000 bytes per square inch, which was 20 to 100 times more than the bar codes of the day. It was designed for paper data storage, to allow magazines to distribute computer programs by simply printing a pattern on a page. Several computer magazines printed Softstrip data that encoded program source listings, or even executable programs. It is now known as Datastrip code.
Softstrip format never became very popular for program distribution. It was intended to replace the tedium of entering type-in programs from magazines, but the format encoded less than a thousand bytes per square inch, which meant that large files took up a lot of space in a magazine. The bar codes didn't work well if the magazine ink was smeared; and the reader hardware was relatively expensive at around US$200. The high cost of the unit and the added demands placed on publishers led to a chicken or egg dilemma between supply and demand where magazines were reluctant to publish listings in Softstrip format until there was a sizable user base, and users waited for the bar codes to become common in magazines before buying the unit.
More recently, other applications for the code have been developed, including its use on identification cards and similar documents to encode text and biometric data.
Reception
"The system works beautifully", David Tebbutt of Personal Computer World wrote in January 1987, "but, at the UK price of £200, I'm having a devil of a job deciding who could justify the price". He concluded that until a compelling business use appeared for it, Softstrip was "'all dressed up, with nowhere to go'".
See also
References
- Sandberg-Diment, Erik (October 15, 1985). "Personal Computers; Supermarket Bar Codes Are Applied to Software". The New York Times. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- U.S. patent 4,728,783 on the format
- "Re: After the scanner, the newspaper ???". static7.userland.com. October 5, 1998. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- Tebbutt, David (January 1987). "Cauzin's Softstrip" (PDF). Personal Computer World. pp. 176–177. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
Further reading
- Reimsbach, Michael; Aycock, John (February 25, 2021). "Decoding the Cauzin Softstrip: a case study in extracting information from old media". Archival Science. 21 (3). Springer Science+Business Media LLC: 281–294. doi:10.1007/s10502-021-09358-z. ISSN 1389-0166. PMC 8591774. PMID 34803479.
External links
- Photos of a Cauzin Softstrip Reader
- Brief history of the Softstrip format
- Investigation and reproduction of the format in modern times
- Reverse Engineering The Cauzin Softstrip
- Hann, Judith (6 November 1986). This odd looking strip could revolutionise the way we distribute computer data. Tomorrow's World. BBC Archive.
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