NEW YORK — In the bustling world of supermarkets, a simple but groundbreaking innovation emerged from the mind of IBM engineer Paul McEnroe: the barcode. In 1969, McEnroe envisioned a future where lasers would scan products, significantly speeding up checkout processes. His ideas laid the groundwork for what would become the Universal Product Code (UPC).
The concept of barcodes had been in development for decades, following a patent filed on October 20, 1949, by a team that included one of McEnroe’s colleagues. At the time, barcodes had never been used commercially, but McEnroe and his team were determined to bring the technology to life. They envisioned a system where shoppers would glide through checkouts with lasers scanning items at lightning speed.
However, IBM’s legal team had concerns about the use of lasers. They feared potential lawsuits from customers who might intentionally injure their eyes with the devices. “No way,” they insisted, despite McEnroe’s assurances that the half-milliwatt laser posed minimal risk compared to the energy emitted by a standard light bulb.
To ease the lawyers’ fears, McEnroe turned to Rhesus monkeys imported from Africa. After conducting tests at a nearby laboratory that confirmed the lasers were safe for the animals, the legal team relented. “It was crazy,” McEnroe recalled, chuckling at the unexpected turn of events that included finding a zoo in North Carolina to take in the monkeys.
The journey to a functional barcode system was a collaborative effort. McEnroe’s team included Joe Woodland, who had originally conceptualized barcodes decades earlier. Woodland’s early idea, inspired by drawing lines in the sand, evolved with the help of engineer George Laurer, who refined it into the UPC, a rectangular design with black vertical lines corresponding to a unique number.
The grocery industry officially adopted the UPC in 1973, and the first product, a pack of Wrigley’s gum, was scanned at a Marsh Supermarket in Ohio in 1974. This marked the beginning of a global revolution in retail.
The UPC’s success paved the way for various other barcode formats, including 2D barcodes like QR codes, which can encode more complex information. Interestingly, McEnroe’s work with scanning technology dates back to his early career, where he scanned large maps for the CIA, setting the stage for his future endeavors in retail technology.
McEnroe’s vision was simple yet ambitious: to streamline the checkout process by allowing supermarket staff to scan products into a computer rather than manually processing each sale. The IBM team had to ensure their code-scanning system would function consistently, even at high speeds of up to 100 inches per second.
By focusing on the spacing between vertical lines rather than their thickness, the IBM team created a more reliable scanning process. This innovation meant that even if a label printer produced uneven lines, the scanner would still accurately read the code.
Today, barcodes are ubiquitous, with millions of products bearing these small black-and-white markings, revolutionizing how retail operates around the world. What began as a simple idea from McEnroe and his team at IBM has transformed into a vital component of modern commerce.
