Does anything not have a bar code on it when you go to the store?
What you may not realize is just how long the bar code has been around. It was first patented this week back in 1952 by Norman Woodland, (Engineer who worked on the Manhattan Project) Jordin Johanson and Bernard Silver. (Also engineers)
The first bar codes were used on railway cars to track where cars were around the country. Someone figured out they'd be a great way to use at the check-out at stores. They weren't truly commercially successful until the 1980's.
I have no idea how a line of black bars, of various widths and in what appears to be totally random order can pack so much information, but the darn thing works.
More and more stores simply use self-checkout because of the bar code. You swipe, you pay and off you go.
In fact, tiny bar codes have been placed on bees to track their movements and mating habits!
So happy birthday Bar Code.
John W. Scherer
John is CEO and Founder of
Video Professor, Inc.