I mostly agree with the remarks of John Gardner, but would like to add
the following comments...
1) This is not a new idea by any means. A similar concept came out in
the early '80s which was called the "Softstrip" reader. This system met
with limited success, mostly in the mass-distribution computer magazines,
where it was used to encode source code for example programs that
appeared in the magazine in printed form, thereby saving typing time.
This system was fairly accessible in economic terms as the softstrip
reader retailed for under $200, and there was software that could produce
the codes, albeit at a lower density, on a standard 9-pin dot matrix
printer. Also, 2-dimensional barcodes (commonly called matrix codes in
the industry) have been around for some time now, but the technologies
for printing and reading them remain prohibitively high (the use of a
flatbed scanner is interesting, but not exactly portable, nor within the
financial reach of many). Typically, these codes have to be printed with
very high-resolution laser (such as the linotronic printer mentioned), or
thermal transfer printers, and these are not exactly cheap. Hand-held
matrix code scanners are indeed "off the shelf", but range in price from
about $2500 to $4000, and of course would not be useful for anything as
large as an entire sheet of paper -- the size of the code which could be
accurately scanned with one of these scanners could only hold about 2K of
uncompressed data.
2) As to the statement made by the company, "It is our intention to
popularize the use of paper as a digital storage medium", I have to pause
and wonder if this isn't taking a step backwards.
Jim Rebman
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