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Joseph Woodland and Bernade Silver were issued a patent
on the first bar code in 1952, which was a concentric ink
pattern that glowed under UV. But the idea didn't take
off until after the patent expired in the 1970s. The first product
with the Universal Product Code, better known as bar
code, was scanned in 1974. It was a stick of chewing gum.
The late
1980s saw the widespread adoption of bar code scanning at
checkout counters in Malaysia.
While
bar codes are a convenience to shoppers, they play an
even more important role for merchants. Bar codes help
them to keep track of the inventory automatically through
the computer.
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