Information

The History of Barcodes

By: Richard Romando
Submitted: 2007-01-17 15:15:02
Print this article | Tell a friend | For publisher | Social Bookmarking
Rating:
 

Wallace Flint was the first person to suggest an automated checkout system in 1932. But the history of modern barcode begun only in 1948, when Bernard Silver, a graduate student of Drexel Institute of Technology in Philadelphia, asked his friend Norman Woodland to develop a system to automatically read product information during checkout.

The first coding system was developed by Woodland, a twenty-seven-year-old graduate of the same institute. On October 7, 1952, Woodland and his friend Silver were awarded a patent for this invention named "Classifying Apparatus and Method." Woodland's first idea was to use patterns of ink that would glow under ultraviolet light. The barcode Woodland and Silver developed was a "bull's eye" symbol, made up of a series of concentric circles. Later, the barcode was made up of a pattern of four white lines on a dark background. Information was coded and classified in these lines.

The barcode was first commercialized in 1967, when RCA installed the first scanning systems at a Kroger store in Cincinnati. In 1969, NAFC asked Logicon. Inc. to develop an industry-wide barcode system. They developed Part 1 and 2 of the UGPIC (Universal Grocery Products Identification Code) in 1970. Based on this, a Uniform Grocery Product Code was formed. In 1973, the U.S. Supermarket Ad Hoc Committee recommended the adoption of the UPC symbol set, which is still in use. This was developed by George Laurer of IBM. In June 1974, the first UPC scanner was installed at Marsh's supermarket in Troy, Ohio. It was developed by NCR Corp. The first product scanned was ten-pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit chewing gum.

The industrial application of barcodes began in late 1950s, and in 1967, the Association of American Railroad adopted an optical barcode, but it was abandoned in 1970. In September 1981, the United States Department of Defense adopted the use of Code 39 for marking all products sold by the United States military, called LOGMARS. This was the event that popularized barcodes. Today, this is a billion dollar business. In 1962, Silver died, and in 1992, Woodland was awarded the National Medal of Technology by President Bush.

Bar Codes provides detailed information on bar codes, bar code printers, bar code scanners, bar code labels and more. Bar Codes is affiliated with Bar Code Label Software.

Article source: Expert Articles

Most Recent Articles in Business category

  • Business, Multiple Disciplinary Skills Required - By: Jasbir Kaur
    Online Businesses, unlike many on-site businesses, require entrepreneurs to not only have a background in business, but also computers. Yes, on-site businesses function on computer systems, too, but they don't rely solely on computer technology for their operation.
  • Dollars Payment- your own Loan Calculator - By: Manojj Kumarr
    The chart below gives examples of three different loan terms and what paying between $75 to $100 more a month would do to the mortgage. It is based on a $100,000.00 loan at 7% interest. Years Int Rate Payment Interest Total of Payments Savings
  • Make money with your own website or blog - By: Sudesh Kumar
    The concept is Join free make money online in which you can make some extra money just by spending your little spare-time. And the best thing about these programs is that there are no charges for joining them.
  • Special Gifts For A Business Dad - By: Jnet Verra
    What would you give a business dad? It's a challenging and fun task to find the perfect gift for a successful dad, but worry not, there's help for you.
  • A Unique Gift For Mr. Executive - By: Jnet Verra
    Executives deserve gifts too, and though it's difficult to impress these successful people, there are gifts which do exactly that. Read more to find out.
  • Your Joint Venture Put it in Writing - By: Jasbir Kaur
    So you're going to take the plunge and start a joint venture. Excellent! As long as you consider the details and think it through as if it's a whole new business, your new venture could mean exponentially greater profits for you!
  • A to Z of AdSense and PPC - By: Mukeshh Kumarr
    AdSense is a pay per click program in which ads are targeted to search results and website content with advertisers paying for each click received. In contrast to other types of affiliate programs, AdSense can be more profitable to publishers because it requires no spending on the customer's part. Advertisers are paying for the interested traffic. Studies show that the most viewed area of a page is toward the top and left (think of where you normally start reading).
  • Effective ways to Build Internet Marketing Email List - By: Surjeet Kumar
    The cardinal rule of internet marketing is Do Not Spam. Don't even think about it. This will instantly cause you to be banned by your internet service provider, receive hate mail and even hate phone calls. It will also ruin the one thing you should value above all as an internet marketer, and that is your reputation. Without a good reputation you may as well fold your tent.
  • Sending Your Love Home - By: timothy spencer
    It's tough to be traveling while your loved ones are at home. Through the Internet, you can now communicate with you loved ones or send flowers and gifts even if you are far away. This article explores the benefits of online gift shopping.
  • The recent increase of stake in Lumax - By: Ravii Kumarr
    While discussing the potential of the Indian supplier industry in the global context with one of my European colleagues, I pointed out to him that most Indian suppliers are home-bred entrepreneurs, who have realized the opportunity window and mostly used the technical collaboration / minority equity stake method to bring in technical know-how, unlike China where most supplier ventures are joint-ventures with global suppliers, formed out of compulsion.