21CTO

Oct 12, 2026 · Industry Insights

From Beach Epiphany to Global Standard: The Barcode's 70-Year Journey

This article traces the barcode's evolution from a 1948 supermarket executive's request through Joseph Woodland's Morse-code-inspired beach epiphany, IBM's rectangular UPC design beating RCA's bullseye patent, the first 1974 commercial scan of Wrigley's gum, to today's 10+ billion daily scans across retail, logistics, and healthcare.