On this 50th Anniversary of barcode scanning, I’ve been thinking about chewing gum, lot numbers, spinach, expiration dates, medication packaging, and the FDA. On June 26, 1974, a ten-pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit gum was the world’s first bar-coded product scanned at a point of sale. Today, over 10 billion barcodes are scanned between sunrises […]
2030. A robot, a dog, and a pharmacist walk into a bar. A chatty bar tender learns that his three customers comprise the entire pharmacy department of the large hospital in town. When asked what each does, the robot starts, “I prepare medications.” The dog follows, “I keep the pharmacist away from the robot.” The […]
Whoever concluded we are direct descendants of apes must have missed Solomon’s advice about considering ants. Seriously, nonhuman primates travel light. More like ants, we humans spend our days schlepping stuff around. We pack suitcases and briefcases, pull them through airports, stow them overhead, and drag them to taxi stands, hotel rooms, meetings, and back […]
There is little pedestrian about being a pedestrian in the UK. It pays to heed the painted warnings underfoot between the platforms and trains throughout the color-coded labyrinth of the famed Underground—“MIND THE GAP.” It is paramount, however, to heed the painted curbs at nearly every intersection—“LOOK RIGHT.” Perhaps you’ve had your close call with […]
This afternoon, I received an e-mail from my friend George Laurer (to my right), the inventor of the UPC bar code—the very same code scanned on the items I purchased this morning at Costco and Trader Joe’s. It arrived on the anniversary (June 26, 1974) of the first bar-coded product being scanned at a point […]
In the interest of full disclosure, I am a frequent flier—United 1K. Last week, I was chatting with a fellow passenger who holds the airline’s highest status—Global Services. You can guess what two road warriors who’ve endured a hundred thousand plus miles the previous year kibitz about when belted into uncomfortable seats in aluminum tubes […]
SOS is the worldwide signal for distress. When originally used in 1908, the letters did not represent words. Rather, the characters were chosen for the ease with which they could be telegraphed and deciphered via Morse Code. The signal employs perhaps the least ambiguous combinations available: dot-dot-dot, dash-dash-dash, and dot-dot-dot. The maritime call letters quickly […]