The history of barcodes
From four lines in the sand to the number Mercado Libre asks for today. The UPC was born to make checkout faster. The EAN is the same system in 13 digits.
The timeline
1949
Lines in the sand
Norman Joseph Woodland draws a code of thick and thin lines in Miami. He wanted a scanner to read the product at the supermarket so the checkout line would move.
1952
The patent, without a laser
Woodland and Bernard Silver patent the idea. The prototype is the size of a desk. They still need a thin light and a small computer.
1960
The laser appears
Theodore Maiman fires the first laser. Only then can the drawing actually be read, without a 500-watt lamp.
1973
Retail chooses the UPC
A U.S. retail committee picks George Laurer's rectangular symbol at IBM. One standard for every manufacturer, not a different code in every chain.
1974
The first scan
On June 26, at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio, a pack of Juicy Fruit goes through checkout. It is the first UPC a scanner reads in a real supermarket.
1984
From the shelf to more industries
The council is renamed the Uniform Code Council. The code stops being only for groceries: it enters more products and more warehouses.
2005
GS1 is born
The U.S. UCC and EAN International merge. The new name is GS1. The number format does not change: UPC is 12 digits, EAN is 13.
2012
GTIN, the umbrella name
GTIN is the family: UPC is GTIN-12 and EAN is GTIN-13. Amazon and Mercado Libre ask for that identifier on the listing. One code for each variation.
Why it exists
A supermarket manager asked a university for a way to get through checkout faster and to stop counting the shelf by hand. Woodland, who knew Morse, turned dots and dashes into bars. The laser and the small computer took twenty years. Once the UPC was agreed, the manufacturer prints the number: the register only reads it.
What this has to do with your listing
The number from 1974 is the one you paste today. On Mercado Libre the field is EAN or universal code. On Amazon it is called GTIN. GS1 sells a membership to issue those numbers in your company name. Here we assign the code, one payment, and you download it now. If the channel wants the membership in your name, that purchase is at GS1.