I think soon they will incorporate it in to our luggage on planes.

They already do! The label attached to your case at check-in or at the baggage drop if you've check-in online has its own unique bar-code and that's why you still have to queue even at the baggage drop point if it's busy. Look carefully enough and you'll find the bar-code on its own smaller label is also usually stuck directly onto the side of your case and a copy of the bar-code attached to your ticket stub or passport. It's through the use of these bar-codes that luggage is tracked and placed on the right plane, identified and returned to you if it gets lost and how they know which cases to off-load if somebody doesn't board the plane after checking-in. I can't work out how this could be safely streamlined - if the labels were sent out in advance this could be a security risk because they could be tampered with.

Also, boarding passes are usually bar-coded too now - that machine they shove it through at the gate before returning the stub to you, is reading the bar-code and checking it against the passenger manifest. This is how they know who has boarded and who hasn't - and why my Dad was challenged when he'd got his and my Mum's mixed up. He clearly wasn't the Mrs Mxxxxx that flashed up on the reader as being the passenger that bar-code related to! I think the beard gave it away!

SM

If you have a Android such as HTC or X10 or iPhone you can download an App to scan barcodes. If you scan your luggage tag on your suitcase when you get back you will notice it has some recognisable data on it, same can be said for say the barcode under your laptop if it has one, it will give you the serial number and the date of manufacture normally.