Barcodes+(Matt+G.)

Barcodes are optical representations of data that shows information about the article to which it is attached. There have been two primary types of barcodes; one-dimensional and two-dimensional. One-dimensional barcodes utilized the variation of the widths and spacing’s of parallel lines to convey information whereas two-dimensional barcodes (what we generally use today) use geometric patters to convey information.

Created by Bernard Silver and Norman Joseph Wood who received a patent for their idea in 1952, barcodes were first used to label railway cars for the Pennsylvania Railroad but its use was scrapped when troubles arose from such things as dirt making the barcodes impossible to read therefore nullifying their purpose. Barcodes then found their most widespread use with the requested development of UPC (Universal Product Code) codes by the NAFC (National Association of Food Chains) and has (since 1974) become virtually universal amongst retailers and wholesalers as well other businesses for a diverse set of uses nationwide.