バーコード、実用化から５０年

【パリＡＦＰ＝時事】スーパーマーケットでの精算に変革をもたらし、「小売業界のグローバル化」を促してきたバーコードが３日、実用化から５０年の節目を迎えた。（写真は資料写真）
　世界では、毎秒７万点の商品が取引され、商品のバーコードをスキャンする際の特徴的なデジタル音は１日に約６０億回鳴る。
　今では当たり前となったバーコードだが、その技術は、精算の迅速化や商品追跡、在庫管理の改善など小売業界に大変革をもたらした。
　バーコードを発明した米国のノーマン・ウッドランド氏とバーナード・シルバー氏は、１９５２年に特許を取得した。特許取得から約２０年後の７１年、米国人エンジニアのジョージ・Ｊ・ラウアー氏がこの技術を改良し、実用化に向けて動き出した。
　そして７３年４月３日、大手の小売・食品会社によって共通商品コードが承認された。翌７４年６月２６日に、バーコードを使用した初めての取引が米オハイオ州で行われた。
　だがバーコードは現在、スマートフォンで読み取り、より多くの情報を伝えることができるＱＲコードとの競争に直面しており、その需要は減少しつつあるのかもしれない。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/04/03-16:48）

The patch of irregular vertical lines that revolutionised checking out at the supermarket and facilitated the globalisation of retail is turning 50.
But as the barcode celebrates its birthday on Monday, its days might be numbered as it faces competition from the younger QR code, the information-filled squares used in smartphones.
The trademark beep as a product is scanned is heard about six billion times per day across the world as around 70,000 items are sold each second.
It has become so integrated in the shopping experience that it is easy to forget how much the technology revolutionised retail by speeding up the checkout process and giving retailers the ability to trace products and better manage inventory.
The barcode not only identifies a product, but gives professionals in stores access to other functionalities, said Laurence Vallana, head of France de SES-Imagotag, a company that specialises in electronic tagging.
- Chewing gum to fruit -
Barcodes were initially patented by Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver in the United States in 1952.
But it wasn't until nearly two decades later, in 1971, that US engineer George Laurer perfected the technology and moves towards its commercialisation began.
On April 3, 1973 the standard to identify products was agreed by a number of large retailers and food companies. It later became known as EAN-13, which stands for European Article Number and the number of digits in the barcode.
The following year, on June 26 in the US state of Ohio, the first product was scanned: a pack of chewing gum that is now in the National Museum of American History in Washington.
Today, the non-governmental organisation Global Standard 1 manages the barcode system and counts about two million firms as members.
It provides companies with a unique global trade item number for each product, which is then translated into the barcode. Each firm must pay an annual fee based on their sales, up to nearly $5,000 per year.
- From bars to QRs -
But the humble barcode will soon give way to another standard developed by the organisation, said Renaud de Barbuat and Didier Veloso, the respective heads of GS1 Global and GS1 France.
The new standard, based on QR, or Quick Response code, will be introduced around 2027.
If barcodes have been compared to prison bars by critics of the over-commercialisation of society, the Chinese game Go with its white and black pieces on a square board was the inspiration for the QR code's Japanese creator, Masahiro Hara.
Developed in 1994, QR codes can hold much more information as they are read both horizontally, like barcodes, and vertically.
Instead of having to search a database for information to go along with a product, the QR code can integrate information directly, such as the composition of the product and recycling instructions.
GS1 believes moving to the QR code format allows the sharing of far more information about products as well as content, enabling new uses that will be accessible to consumers as well as retailers.
As smartphones can read QR codes, they are an easy way to send people to websites to get additional information, leading to their widespread adoption by companies, artists and even museums. They are even used by payment systems.
But barcodes are likely to remain in place for years to come as the world gradually transitions to QR codes.