In The News

The man who ushered in the age of the barcode passes away

The man who ushered in the age of the barcode passes away

Alan Haberman, who has died aged 81, did not invent the barcode system but is credited with being one of the driving forces behind it being adopted worldwide.

Mr. Haberman chaired the Uniform Code Council committee which chose the system for use in tracking and identifying goods in the electronic age.

He was a supermarket executive when the committee was set-up in 1973 to examine a range of systems aimed at making it easier for companies to handle goods.

Among the contenders were systems which used groups of dots, bull’s-eyes and even circles.

The barcode had in fact been developed in the 1940s by Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver. However, because the scanning technology was poor at that time their invention failed to win market approval.

By the time Mr. Haberman’s committee had been formed the patent held by Woodland and Silver had lapsed, but their model inspired an I.B.M. designer to come up with the system of black-and-white vertical bars so familiar today.

Mr. Haberman liked the design and pressed his fellow committee members to adopt it. Eventually his view won the day and the Universal Product Code (U.P.C.) was born.

On June 26, 1974, a man in a supermarket in Ohio handed the checkout person a packet of Wrigley’s chewing gum. An optical scanner beeped and the cash register rang up the sale amount of 67 cents — the very first sale to involve the use of a barcode.

Today the barcode system is used across the world.

To view an interview with Alan Haberman click here.

 

View previous In the News items: Remains are reinterred after Omagh ceremony, Singer Carl Gardner passes away in the US, Hundreds attend funeral of former Irish minister, Actor Donald Hewlett passes away, Man dies in County Antrim road accident, Jazz great Ray Bryant passes away, TV writer Leonard Stern passes away, Famous Indian artist dies in London, Actor Roy Skelton passes away, Singer and musician Andrew Gold passes away, Former US Secretary of State passes away, Writer Josephine Hart passes away, Famous painter and sculptor passes away, Patients could be asked to state how they want to die, Hero of the Battle of the Bulge passes away, Driving force behind Top of the Pops dance troupe passes away, Tributes are paid to American musician and poet, Last of the original surrealist artists passes away, Tributes are paid to former top cricketer, Irish mountaineer dies during bid to climb Mount Everest, Former top sports producer and director passes away, Two young men die in weekend road accidents, Singer Kathy Kirby passes away, Former Irish Prime Minister to be given a State Funeral, Actor Edward Hardwicke passes away, Tributes are paid to leading businessman, Olympic champion dies in suspected suicide, Retailing trailblazer Leo Kahn passes away, Belfast pensioner passes away aged 100, Trumpeter in Penny Lane recording passes away, Former Northern Ireland Office Minister passes away, Tributes are paid to top cyclist killed during race event, Founding member of the Walker Brothers passes away, Golf legend Seve Ballesteros passes away, Tributes are paid to the actor and director Jackie Cooper, Remains of RAF officer are returned by North Korea, Last veteran of the First World War passes away, Mummified body of Hollywood actress found in her home, Boxing legend Henry Cooper passes away, Tributes are paid to travel writer and former comedian, Famous mountain climber dies in accident, The inventor of the teleprompter passes away, Tributes are paid to punk singer Poly Styrene, Former Unionist MP Bill Craig passes away or So called father of the compact disc passes away

 

If you have a relative or a friend who has passed away and feel they should be mentioned in our In the News section, then please email us.