Forty years ago this month a pack of Wrigley’s gum was scanned at a Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio. This moment made history. It was the first commercial use of a bar code scanner in a retail environment. That idea of collecting a broad spectrum of information in one pass of a wand, a gun or a ring—or past a stationary reader—astounded people even several years after those technologies hit the market. But as scanning technologies evolved, so did the imagination of their inventors and users. Scanning went from a means of data collection, to marketing, to artistic expression—and eventually wound up in politics and as a potential means of saving the world from terrorism.
This gallery traces the journey of automatic data collection through a few of those key moments—to where we are today, when the term “scanning” is as out of focus to many people as their grandfather’s old 8mm movie projector. Enjoy.
(ED. NOTE: TO WATCH THESE VIDEOS, CLICK THE LINK IN THE TEXT BOX TO THE RIGHT OF THE MAIN IMAGE. NAVIGATE TO THE NEXT VIDEO USING THE ARROWS.)
View MH&L's other video galleries:
Videos on OSHA’s Top Violations
Physics-Flouting Forklifts Caught on Video
Dock Accidents by Land and Sea
Warehouse Disasters Caught on Video
Stupidity in the Warehouse Caught on Video
Bad Truck Drivers Caught on Video
See Who's Making Google-Glassed Eyes at Your Business
More Dumb Things People Do with Forklifts [VIDEO GALLERY]
Forklift Man Cages: Right and Wrong, Caught on Video
Life is a Rodeo for these Forklift Champs Caught on Video
Crime by Forklift Caught on Video
The Consequences of Gravity--Caught on Video
"Struck-By" Forklift Accidents Caught on Video
Conveyor Danger—Caught on Video
Fuel Cell Forklifts--Pros & Cons on Video
Bulk Container Handling Hazards Caught on Video
Bad Forklift Training Caught on Video
Meet Your Material Handling's International Influences
Job Interviews from Hell on Video
Material Handling Failures Caught on Video
Politicians on Forklifts Caught on Camera
The Artistic Beauty and Political Ugliness of Scanning—Caught on Video