Capturing data at the time and place of sale. Point of sale systems use computers or specialized terminals that are combined with cash registers, bar code readers, optical scanners and magnetic stripe readers for accurately and instantly capturing the transaction.
Point of sale systems may be online to a central computer for credit checking and inventory updating, or they may be stand-alone machines that store the daily transactions until they can be delivered or transmitted to the main computer for processing. See keyboard wedge and self checkout.
Point of Sale
Busy supermarkets would be hard pressed to keep up with the traffic if it were not for bar code readers and point of sale systems. Do we even remember the days without them? (Image courtesy of Sweda International AB.)
Point of sale systems may be online to a central computer for credit checking and inventory updating, or they may be stand-alone machines that store the daily transactions until they can be delivered or transmitted to the main computer for processing. See keyboard wedge and self checkout.
Point of Sale
Busy supermarkets would be hard pressed to keep up with the traffic if it were not for bar code readers and point of sale systems. Do we even remember the days without them? (Image courtesy of Sweda International AB.)
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2008 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- Cablevision blankets Long Island with Wi-Fi
- Cablevision Systems, one of the biggest cable providers in the New York City metro area, announced that it's completed the first stage of a massive Wi-Fi network project called Optimum WiFi that will eventually cover the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut tri-state area. The company says that its wireless networking equipment now...
- Blog posts 2008-09-04
- Adobe and NBC to provide live streaming of NFL games
- Adobe just announced that the NFL is going to use Flash to deliver live, online streaming video for NBC Sunday and Thursday night football games. You can go watch the games on NBCSports.com right now. It looks like they used Flex to build the player and I assume they're using...
- Blog posts 2008-09-04
- Malware and spam attacks exploiting Picasa and ImageShack
- In the wake of the recent malvertising attacks where malicious flash ads were appearing at trusted web sites, evidence from multiple vendors and researchers indicates that spammers and malware authors have once again switched tactics, and are one again abusing legitimate services such as Google's Picasa and ImageShack. Whereas the...
- Blog posts 2008-09-04
- SocialCast: enterprise Twitter/FriendFeed mashup
- SocialCast has revamped its group comms service, given it a facelift, aligned itself more closely to consumery apps like Twitter and FriendFeed and then given it an enterprise twist. As far as I am aware, this is the first enterprise facing application that has gotten close...
- Blog posts 2008-09-04
- Google's Top 10 Cloud Computing List
- Dontcha just love Top 10 lists? At the Office 2.0 conference in San Francisco today, Matthew Glotzbach, who leads the Enterprise Products team at Google, offered a "Top 10 Things I Can Do in the Cloud That I Couldn't Do A Year Ago." No surprises that many of the tasks...
- Blog posts 2008-09-04
- Are we "done" with rich Internet applications?
- This week I've been putting together slides and preparing for my talk at Web 2.0 Expo New York City. I'm doing one titled "Making Sense of Rich Internet Applications" so it's more of a general talk covering everything from Adobe's stuff, to Microsoft Silverlight, to the mobile world, and now...
- Blog posts 2008-09-04
- The power of standard protocols
- I've spent the past few months as the primary developer at a very small company. An important technology to this company is Instant Messaging, as it plays an essential part in our approach to unified messaging. This has meant that I have had to build, in-house, our...
- Blog posts 2008-09-04
- Ten key differences between Linux and Windows
- Before debating the relative merits and shortcomings of Linux and Windows, it helps to understand the real distinctions between them. Before debating the relative merits and shortcomings of Linux and Windows, it helps to understand the real distinctions between them. Here are the key differences distilled into one list....
- News items 2008-09-04
- Something in the air: Several random wind energy updates
- It's been so still here in northern New Jersey for the past week that I can't imagine using the technology that I'm going to mention in this post. And yet the wind has been known to bend the trees in my yard, like kelp responding to a tidal surge. So,...
- Blog posts 2008-09-04
- Dell repair adventure, day 5, with updates
- Since our last episode, our hero has been communicating with Bob Pearson, Dell's VP of Communities & Conversations, and Bill Bivin, Dell's Community Liaison, about getting my Dell Lattitude D620 back up and running. Both Bob and Bill give every impression of trying very hard to deal not only with...
- Blog posts 2008-09-04
- Dell and Salesforce.com: So cozy they could merge (someday)
- Dell and Salesforce.com have quite a partnership going on. Dell is developing its internal and some of its external application on Salesforce.com's force.com platform. Salesforce.com is moving its data centers to Dell hardware. And the two are teaming up on marketing pitches. Meanwhile, the relationship appears to be much more...
- Blog posts 2008-09-04
- Logitech tries to take network music player mainstream with Squeezebox Boom
- In the press release announcing the new Squeezebox Boom, Robin Selden, vice president and general manager of Logitech's Streaming Media business unit, says that "[t]he network music player will be the CD player of the 21st century." That may be true—eventually—but at $299.99, the Boom probably...
- Blog posts 2008-09-03
- On stupid mascots and closed source browser plugins
- Everyone's been harping on Google this week with the release of Chrome, so I thought I would be different -- today I'm going to give Adobe some love. Because I bet they feel left out. Adobe's Flash and Acrobat Reader plugins are some...
- Blog posts 2008-09-03
- Slash to album poster: 'Rot in jail'
- Slash to album poster: 'Rot in jail'Very strong words...RE: Slash to album poster: 'Rot in jail'how did this music get to the web? everything that gets to the web should be free! go after the persons who do the uploading not the down loaders. it got there some how. how...
- Discussion threads 2008-09-03
- Breaking: Oracle's Andersen gone, where now for Fusion and vertical plays?
- I have seen an internal Oracle email that confirms persistent rumors that Jespers Andersen, SVP Application Development at Oracle has left for Cisco. The email says: "You may well have heard today, the rumour mill has been very busy that Jesper has resigned from Oracle. ...
- Blog posts 2008-09-03
- Looking deeper into Comcast's new cap
- Looking deeper into Comcast's new capWhat's behind the Comcast cap?Well, I say we should strike "Comcast" and substitute "Cable" in its place!What I dislike the most about politically correct constructs is the milky-toast tone typically used. Cable Internet IS DEAD! The dinky little coax does well delivering low grade T.V.,...
- Discussion threads 2008-09-03
- (Photos: The brains behind Google Chrome)
- (Photos: The brains behind Google Chrome)It's absurd to refer to 'The Brains Behind Chrome'Google Chrome, at this point in time, adds very little to the WebKit rendering engine. It's clearly a very early release, and currently does nothing clever. It will be interesting to watch it develop.Kevin, G-Portal UKhttp://cms.da.gp
- Discussion threads 2008-09-03
- Who wins with Google Chrome
- Who wins with Google ChromeChrome adds a lot. By about any measure, Chrome will be way ahead of IE8.If there was nothing new here, there would be no excitement.Chrome Adds Nothing NewAt this point in time, Chrome adds effectively nothing new. It's little more than a late attempt to...
- Discussion threads 2008-09-03
- Where WiFi succeeds
- Where WiFi succeedsAll Good PointsMost important is your point that the cities' failures result from the failure of their business models. Just because the city council votes it to be true, and then commands, "Make it so", doesn't make it so.Your last point, that WIFI can work well on any...
- Discussion threads 2008-09-03
- A virus in our genes, think about that....
- A virus in our genes, think about that....Not bad...You were doing good until about halfway through the post, when you might as well have pulled out your Barack Hussein Obama flag and waved it from the rooftops.Your gallop off into politics ruined what would otherwise have been a good read.RE:...
- Discussion threads 2008-09-03
Neighboring Terms
Premier Vendor Content Whitepapers, webcasts & resources from our Power Center Sponsors
- Access the latest Intel and industry best practices
-
Designed specifically to address the concerns of senior IT managers at organizations with more than 100 employees, the Intel Premier IT Professional Program provides best practices via local and e-Seminars and a members-only Web site.
- View the Intel Premier IT Professional web-site tour >>
Ultraportables
- Understanding Ultraportable Laptops (BNET)
- Five steps to protect mobile devices anywhere, anytime (TechRepublic)
- View all ZDNet Toshiba laptop reviews
- From our sponsors
- Toshiba Satellite® U400 Series
-
- The ultra-portable, ultra-stylish Satellite® U405 is a smart choice for you and your small business. Only from the laptop expert, Toshiba. Explore the complete laptop lineup »
-
