The barcode might not be as, well, exciting as the electric light or modern transport—but it has been every bit as important in transforming the lives we live today. The humble UPC barcode can now be found on everything from tubes of lip balm to massive shipping containers, and helps enable a global economy, rapid check-out, and more. As industries everywhere plan to upgrade to 2D barcodes, let’s take a look at how far we’ve come, and where it all started.
1949: The First Barcode
The invention of the barcode started off with a question. A retailer in Pennsylvania approached Drexel Institute and asked for a way to speed up the work of his cashiers. When the dean of the school turned down the offer, it was seized by Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver, two graduate students of mechanical engineering.
Woodland, who was familiar with Morse Code, realized that its dots and dashes could be extended into bars of varying widths, which would be machine readable. This would provide a way to assign an individual number to an item. The patent for the first barcode was filed in 1949, in both a bar and a bulls-eye shaped design.
1970s: UPC Barcodes Become Standard
It was not until 1973, however, that the UPC (Universal Product Code) barcode was adopted as a standard in retail stores in the United States. The first barcode was scanned, with great ceremony, in 1974, in a Marsh Supermarket store in Troy, Ohio. The first “shopper” was Clyde Dawson, who was head of Research and Development for Marsh Supermarket.
Dawson purposefully tested a multi-pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit chewing gum, because nobody had been sure that a bar code could be printed on something so small. The test worked, and retail was changed forever.
The Barcode’s Big Impact
The barcode significantly simplified and expedited the check-out process at retail stores. This made it possible for supermarkets to be built, equipped with multiple check-out lanes and multi-line laser scanners. Because of barcodes, large retailers like Walmart and Target were able to grow into global powerhouses.
Bar codes also made it easier for retailers and manufacturers to keep track of inventory, prices, and sales data. Before the barcode, businesses needed to count every box, bag, or can of goods by hand. This could take a few days to accomplish, and stores often closed until the process was complete. Now, retailers can quickly and accurately track item inventories. As a result, it’s easier to recall spoiled items, or items deemed to be unsafe.
Barcodes also enabled the global economy. The adoption of Universal Product Codes (UPC) and International Article Numbers (EAN) led to standardized product identification systems. This made it easy for codes to be scanned and interpreted across international borders.
1980s and 1990s: Adjustments
The next few decades saw minor adjustments to the barcode, as well as new iterations of it. In 1981, researchers at the Computer Identics Corporation developed Code 128. Though still a 1D barcode, this can encode a larger amount of data in a smaller space compared to other 1D barcode types. It is still commonly used in logistics, shipping, healthcare, and retail, and is particularly useful for tracking packages, labeling inventory, and managing patient records.
In 1987, David Allais of Intermec Corporation developed Code 49, the first rudimentary 2D barcode. It is essentially a “stack” of 1D codes that need to be scanned both across and downwards. Code 49’s unique pattern allows it to encode up to 49 characters per row, which is far more than the mere 20-30 characters in most 1D barcodes.
Other 2D matrix codes developed in the 1980s include Vericode, used by NASA to mark spacecraft parts, and Data Matrix codes, used in part marking and healthcare. In 1991, PDF417 was invented, a stacked barcode which is still in use today, particularly on printed airline boarding cards.
1994: Dawn of the QR Code
In 1992, Masahiro Hara, an engineer at Toyota, was asked to give barcodes more data, while making them easier to read for high-speed processing. Inspired by the Chinese game of Go, he came up with the checkerboard-like QR code, or “Quick Response” code. The new code allowed larger quantities of data to be stored, and included important target symbols to allow for easy identification. They can encode up to 3kB of data, and the layout featuring 3 squares in 3 corners provide for quick finding and recognition.
It took several decades, however, for the QR code to be adopted into modern use. They became more popular as more and more consumers gained access to CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) cameras. Today, almost every smartphone comes equipped with a CMOS camera, which is capable of instantly reading a QR code. Thus, the laser barcode scanner is slowly being phased out, and by 2027, every product will feature a QR code rather than a UPC barcode.
The Future: QR Codes and Beyond
Today, advancements in technology are leading to new barcode alternatives, such as RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) and NFC (Near Field Communication). These solutions allow data to be transferred without requiring line-of-sight between reader and tag. However, it is unlikely that the barcode will be replaced anytime soon. It is a well-established, cost-effective, and widely recognized technology that most people don’t think twice about.
However, the 1D barcode is going away, as detailed in the GS1 Sunrise Initiative. Soon, 2D codes won’t just be on menus and flyers; they’ll be on every retail product, large and small. They will continue to be a vital part of our daily lives for many years to come.
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