Fancy Barcodes

I read this article in WSJ called "Art in Aisle 5: Barcodes Enter an Expressionist Period". It basically talked about how barcodes are evolving to become more than just a way to track products, but also become more of an art form. Especially as companies realize how widespread they are (it took them this long to realize this?) they are beginning to collaborate with artists and outside design companies (the few mentioned are based in Asia) to develop more aesthetically pleasing options.

Does anyone else feel like product designers are racing to find meaning in the meaningless because they're bored?