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The barcode was patented in 1952 by two American inventors, Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver, but it only spread in the 1970s, once laser scanners and computers made it practical at supermarket tills.

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In 1948 Bernard Silver, a graduate student at the Drexel Institute of Technology in Philadelphia, overheard the head of a local food chain asking for a way to read product details automatically at the checkout. He and his friend Woodland took up the challenge. Woodland found the idea on a beach in Florida: he drew Morse code's dots and dashes in the sand and stretched them downwards into thin and thick lines. Their patent also showed a round 'bullseye' version, but reading it needed a 500-watt bulb, and the technology was not ready. In 1973 the American grocery industry chose a design by George Laurer of IBM, the Universal Product Code (UPC). On 26 June 1974, at a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio, a 10-pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum became the first UPC item scanned at a till. It rang up 67 cents.

Türkçe oku
Barkodun patentini 1952'de iki Amerikalı mucit, Norman Joseph Woodland ile Bernard Silver aldı. Ama barkod ancak 1970'lerde, lazer okuyucular ve bilgisayarlar onu market kasalarında kullanışlı hâle getirince yaygınlaştı.

1948'de Philadelphia'daki Drexel Teknoloji Enstitüsü'nde lisansüstü öğrenci olan Bernard Silver, yerel bir market zincirinin yöneticisinin, ürün bilgilerini kasada otomatik olarak okuyacak bir yöntem aradığını tesadüfen duydu. Arkadaşı Woodland ile birlikte işe koyuldular. Woodland aradığı fikri Florida'da bir kumsalda buldu: Mors alfabesinin nokta ve çizgilerini kuma çizdi, sonra onları aşağı doğru uzatarak ince ve kalın çubuklara dönüştürdü. Patentte hedef tahtasına benzeyen yuvarlak bir biçim de vardı; ama onu okumak için 500 vatlık bir ampul gerekiyordu ve teknoloji henüz hazır değildi. 1973'te ABD'deki market sektörü, IBM'den George Laurer'ın tasarladığı Evrensel Ürün Kodu'nu (UPC) seçti. 26 Haziran 1974'te Ohio'nun Troy kentindeki bir Marsh süpermarketinde, 10'lu bir paket Wrigley's Juicy Fruit sakızı kasada okutulan ilk UPC'li ürün oldu. Kasa 67 sent yazdı.

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