If history had taken another path, bar codes would look dramatically different today. Pictured: Here’s some of the options that were being considered, and the bull’s-eye was a favorite ⬇️
“Even in their wildest dreams, [the committee members] could not have imagined how consequential their decision ended up being,” writes Jordan Frith of Clemson University.
https://theconversation.com/how-we-almost-ended-up-with-a-bulls-eye-bar-code-219194
@histodons #histodons #history #technology
@TheConversationUS @histodons Litton and RCA designs are quite pleasing. I wonder what the committee’s reasons were for selecting IBM in the end. Presumably it just worked better. Also wondering if RCA wound up retaliating at all as they threatened.
@TheConversationUS @histodons I remember buying this issue of MAD Magazine back in the day. They were pissed about being forced to deface the cover with a bar code, so this was their response.
@DukeDuke @TheConversationUS @histodons Same deal with DEVO’s “Duty Now For The Future”.
@mathew @TheConversationUS @histodons I saw them in concert in Seattle in '83. At the end of the show, they tossed their hats into the crowd. To this day, I still wish I’d been able to grab one. 😄
