Companies are implanting bar code scanners in pens, key fobs, cell phones and pagers.

FORBES: Scanned Goods

He later became president of a Litton Industries unit called Intermec, a maker of bar-code scanners.

FORBES: The Killer Ad Machine

However, keep in mind many code scanners don't tell you specifically what's wrong, in plain English.

WSJ: Diagnostic Tools to Unleash Your Inner Mechanic

It pioneered the use of bar-code scanners, slick supply chains and inventory management tweaked to local purchasing preferences.

FORBES: Yin Yang, Big Bang

The other pieces enterprise products like two-way radios for public safety agencies and bar-code scanners became Motorola Solutions, with Brown at the helm.

FORBES: The Other Motorola

In addition, they depend on an array of specialty devices, such as audio book-readers, color readers, navigation tools, raised Braille labels, special bar-code scanners, and large-buttoned, voice-enabled MP3 players which are prohibitively expensive.

ENGADGET: Qualcomm develops eyes-free smartphone for the blind and visually impaired, calls it Ray

Some code scanners and software can also be used to measure and track mileage and other performance markers, which can be fun for people who want to save gas or like to race.

WSJ: Diagnostic Tools to Unleash Your Inner Mechanic

These hardware upstarts include Airespace, Colubris Networks and Trapeze Networks, as well as Aruba Wireless Networks, which runs most of Dartmouth's campus, and Symbol Technologies, a publicly traded company known for its bar code scanners.

FORBES: Wi-Fi With a Coat and Tie

Said QR code sends adventurous scanners to a website for the Kraay's family farm website.

ENGADGET: Visualized: World's largest QR code is a Canadian maize maze

Some scanners will inevitably offer a better browsing experience depending on the software used to generate the QR code itself.

FORBES: Why QR Codes Don't Work