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Why Barcodes Look Like That (and What It Means for Your Data)
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Why does a barcode look the way it does? Mr. Will started with that simple question and ended up with a story about entrepreneurship, industry standards, and the data that now runs modern retail.
The barcode began in 1948 as a checkout problem. Joe Woodland sketched the first version in the sand at Miami Beach, inspired by Morse code. He and Bernard Silver patented a circular bullseye design, sold it for $15,000, and waited decades for the technology to catch up. When the grocery industry finally chose a standard in 1973, the winner was IBM engineer George Laurer’s vertical…
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