The Barcode That Changed Everything
Every beep at a supermarket till is a machine reading a number - more than ten billion times a day, according to GS1 US. This video follows the barcode from the lines Joseph Woodland drew in the sand, remembering Morse code, to the patent he and Bernard Silver filed in October 1949 and sold to Philco for $15,000.
It took more than twenty years for the idea to become practical. Lasers and cheap computers made scanning possible; American railways tried striped labels on their wagons from 1967, in a system called KarTrak, and abandoned it by the late 1970s. The grocers' committee chose George Laurer's rectangular IBM design in 1973, and on 26 June 1974 a ten-pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum became the first product scanned at a real checkout, in Troy, Ohio - ringing up 67 cents.
Then the slow part: in 1976 Business Week called it 'The Supermarket Scanner That Failed'; by the end of the 1970s only about 1% of US grocery stores had scanners, and a decade later more than half did. We explain how a UPC-A code carries twelve digits in 95 modules, why it scans upside down, and what the check digit catches - and how GS1 grew to 116 national member organisations. Finally, the QR code, invented by Denso Wave in 1994, and GS1's Sunrise 2027 plan for checkouts to read 2D codes by the end of 2027.
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Educational documentary. Not financial or investment advice.
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Primary sources
- GS1 US, 'GS1 US Celebrates 50-Year Barcode Scanniversary and Heralds Next-Generation Barcode to Support Modern Commerce', press release, 26 June 2024 (gs1us.org) - 'scanned more than 10 billion times daily'; over 1 billion products; Sunrise 2027.
- GS1, 'GS1 historical timeline' (support.gs1.org, article 43000734073) - UCC 1974; EAN founded 1977 in Brussels; GS1 DataMatrix approved 2004; UCC/EAN merger 2005 with 101 Member Organisations; 116 in 2023; Sunrise 2027 ambition 'by the end of 2027'.
- Denso Wave, 'History of QR Code' (qrcode.com/en/history) - developed 1994; automotive kanban; about 7,000 numerals vs about 20 characters; 'The QR in the name stands for quick response'.
- Smithsonian magazine, 'The History of the Bar Code' (smithsonianmag.com) - Woodland's sand quote; 500-watt bulb, desk-sized prototype; laser 16 July 1960; Kroger 1966 and 3 July 1972 Cincinnati test; committee choice of Laurer's IBM design, 1973; Kmart first major mass merchandiser.
- Wikipedia, 'Norman Joseph Woodland' - US patent 2,612,994 filed 20 October 1949, granted 7 October 1952; sold to Philco 1952 for $15,000; Woodland at IBM on the UPC from 1971.
- Wikipedia, 'Universal Product Code' - UPC-A structure (12 digits, 95 modules, 7 per digit, guard patterns, left odd / right even parity, check digit); first scan 26 June 1974, 8:01 a.m., 10-pack Juicy Fruit, 67 cents; facsimile at the Smithsonian.
- Wikipedia, 'Barcode' - KarTrak installed from 1967, abandoned late 1970s; Business Week 1976 'The Supermarket Scanner That Failed'.
- trackvision.ai, 'GS1 Sunrise 2027 compliance deadlines', 27 March 2026 - dual-symbol period; no fixed 'Sunset' date for 1D.
Not regulated financial advice.