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Feature: What? No Barcode?

Have you ever seen those really annoying products that don't have barcodes at all? Take 'Flicks' Magazine, for example. It's free at most cinemas in the country, but you can subscribe to it for £20 a year. How do the cinemas check when their stocks are getting low? This could be done automatically if every copy was barcoded and scanned when it was taken. Some people may steal it though (raising the question: Is it possible to steal something that's free?), meaning that the stock levels information is useless.

Most importantly, however, is this: IF A PRODUCT DOESN'T HAVE A BARCODE, HOW CAN YOU - THE BARCODE ENTHUSIAST - LOOK AT AND COLLECT IT?