Functionality


 * Barcode Scanners:
 * 1. central computer running a database (record system that keeps a tally of all the products information)
 * 2. barcodes printed on all the products
 * 3. checkout scanners that can read the barcodes


 * Basic wand scanner for small convenience store:
 * shine red LED light onto the black and white barcode pattern
 * with a wand scanner, the CCD or photodiodes read the entire code at once


 * Sophisticated laser scanner for busy superstore:
 * laser beam being spun around by an electric motor at high-speed so it reads product in a flash!


 * Contactless smart card
 * pocket-sized card with embeded integrated circuits that can process and store data, and communicate with a terminal via radio waves
 * do not contain an ordinary read-only RFID, but they do contain a re-writable smart card microship that can be ttranscribed via radio waves


 * Radio-frequency identification (RFID)
 * communicate through the use of radio waves to exchange data between a reader and an electronic tag attached to an object (for identification and tracking)