According to the South Florida Reporter, the concept of the barcode was first sketched by inventor Norman Woodland while sitting on Miami Beach in the late 1940s. Inspired by Morse code, he drew a series of dots and dashes in the sand, which later evolved into the linear barcode symbols used worldwide.
Woodland’s original prototype used ultraviolet ink to read lines, but the technology was not commercially viable until the 1970s, when laser scanning and affordable computing made it practical. The first Universal Product Code (UPC) was scanned on a pack of Wrigley’s gum in 1974, revolutionizing retail inventory management.
Today, barcodes are ubiquitous, evolving from 1D linear codes to 2D QR codes and the GS1 Digital Link standard. The humble sketch on Miami Beach ultimately transformed global supply chains, enabling faster checkout, accurate tracking, and the data-driven retail environment consumers now take for granted.