条形码诞生50周年，全球每天扫码次数达60亿次！

ethan.wu

Barcodes were initially patented by Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver in the United States in 1952.条形码最初由诺曼·约瑟夫·伍德兰和伯纳德·西尔弗于1952年在美国申请专利。

But it wasn't until nearly two decades later, in 1971,但直到近二十年后，也就是1971年，

that US engineer George Laurer perfected the technology and moves toward its commercialization began.美国工程师乔治·劳勒完善了这项技术，并开始走向商业化。

On April 3, 1973, the standard to identify products was agreed on by a number of large retailers and food companies.1973年4月3日，一些大型零售商和食品公司就识别产品的标准达成了一致。

The following year, on June 26 in the US state of Ohio, the first product was scanned:次年6月26日，在美国俄亥俄州，第一个产品被扫描：

a pack of chewing gum that is now in the National Museum of American History in Washington.当时的那件商品是一包口香糖，现在收藏在华盛顿的美国国家历史博物馆。

The patch of irregular vertical lines that revolutionized supermarket checkouts and facilitated the globalization of retail is turning 50.这些不规则的垂直线给超市结账带来了革命性的变化，并促进了零售业的全球化，现在这一变革已经迎来了它的50周年纪念日。

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.世界各地每天能听到扫描产品时发出的商标嘟嘟声约60亿次，每秒钟约有7万件商品被售出。

But its days might be numbered as it faces competition from the younger QR code.但它存在的日子也许屈指可数了，因为它面临着更年轻的二维码的竞争。

Developed in 1994, QR codes can hold much more information, as they are read both horizontally, like barcodes, and vertically.开发于1994年的二维码可以容纳更多的信息，因为它们既可以像条形码一样水平读取，也可以垂直读取。

But barcodes are likely to remain in place for years to come as the world gradually transitions to QR codes.随着世界逐渐过渡到二维码，条形码可能会在未来几年内继续存在。