
The First Bar Code Was Round (2014) - benbreen
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/11/the-first-bar-code-was-round/383171/
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dogline
Even the article has you click through to the patent to see this round bar
code so it "could be scanned from any angle."

[https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/7c/8f/da/a94cbfb...](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/7c/8f/da/a94cbfbce1bd99/US2612994-drawings-
page-1.png)

~~~
asperous
Interestingly I think you could still use this design and it would work. Their
rationale of less space and less ink makes sense though.

These days retailers use Omni-Directional Scanners which can scan in all kinds
of orientation by using spinning mirrors.

~~~
sp332
I think the original also has the downside that the scanner would have to go
across the exact center of the circle to be able to read the code. With a
rectangular one, any line from one side to the other will work so you don't
have to be so accurate.

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todd8
While working at IBM years ago, I participated in some of the suggestion
programs that the company provided. Safety related suggestions that were
adopted were rewarded with some fixed amount, perhaps it was $500 (I don't
remember the exact amount). Suggestions that saved the company money were also
rewarded. The reward was something like 10% of the company's first year
savings.

Suggestions that saved a couple of dollars on the packaging of PC could, for
example, be worth quite a bit. The best suggestion I heard of was made by a
co-worker (before I worked at IBM). He was the first to suggest that bar codes
be used on IBM's ubiquitous inventory tags. Since everything in the company,
like desks, monitors, keyboards, etc. had inventory tags it would have been a
huge labor saving suggestion during the annual inventory of everything.

Unfortunately, IBM didn't use the suggestion for a couple of years and
according to the program's guidelines my friend wasn't eligible for a
financial reward when the idea was actually adopted.

~~~
perl4ever
I happened to read recently that the Romans stamped lead pipes with
inscriptions so they could track, I guess, if a pipe was authorized or
stealing water.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_lead_pipe_inscription](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_lead_pipe_inscription)

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reljac
There is an interesting segment of the film "IBM Centennial Film: They Were
There - People who changed the way the world works" that talks about the
initial UPC process. (The entire video is worth watching, lots of good
stories)

[https://youtu.be/p2KQiX57TT8?t=695](https://youtu.be/p2KQiX57TT8?t=695)

~~~
elteto
Wow, fantastic video, thanks for sharing!

Seeing this video, I can't help but feel a bit sad for how far IBM slipped
from its former days of glory :( And not only IBM, but also places like Xerox
PARC and Bell Labs. We owe _so much_ of modern life to these places.

And yet, whatever "secret sauce" each had seems to have been lost (at least to
them, I don't doubt there are other similar places today, although I don't
know them).

~~~
BurningFrog
I hope/assume there are similar places today. Nothing is forever and every
institution has a lifespan.

Though I couldn't tell you where the current ones are.

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amelius
Nowadays, barcodes come in a huge variety of shapes. Here's a nice collection:

[https://www.boredpanda.com/creative-barcode-
designs](https://www.boredpanda.com/creative-barcode-designs)

~~~
doc_gunthrop
Similar things have been done with QR codes as well.

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spdustin
There's a very entertaining episode [0] of the "Stuff You Should Know" podcast
that talks about the history of barcodes.

[0]: [https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-stuff-you-should-
know-269...](https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-stuff-you-should-
know-26940277/episode/how-barcodes-work-45688037/)

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lostlogin
I wonder what they would have been called if they had been round? Presumably
not ‘barcodes’. The wiki says the bar is the varying thickness strips rather
than the collection of them, so the name sort of works if they are circular.
However calling round things a bar doesn’t seem right.

~~~
tyingq
Ring codes? They look like tree rings.

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murkle
This article actually has a picture of the round barcode
[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/13/business/n-joseph-
woodlan...](https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/13/business/n-joseph-woodland-
inventor-of-the-bar-code-dies-at-91.html)

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griffinkelly
Good article I read on this a while back:
[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/history-bar-
code-1...](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/history-bar-
code-180956704/)

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dwighttk
why did they not include a picture?

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gardaani
Rumors say that Apple will be using circular QR codes [1]. Has anyone hacked
those?

[1] [https://constine.substack.com/p/leaked-pics-from-apples-
ar-a...](https://constine.substack.com/p/leaked-pics-from-apples-ar-app-gobi)

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agumonkey
now we have qr-codes, nice lineage

