The Barcode’s First Beep: When Retail Learned to Scan
On a summer day in 1974, a cashier slid a ten-pack of Wrigley’s gum across a glass window. A machine beeped. Price and product flashed on a screen without anyone touching a key. That beep launched a quiet revolution: the UPC barcode turning packaging into data and retail into a real-time system. 🛒