Papa Bar

The article “Bar Codes Sweep the World” (Spring 1993) was interesting and very flattering to Bob Silver and Joe Woodland. However, it was also misleading. An analogy would be an article that implied that Leonardo da Vinci and Samuel Langley had invented the airplane (when in fact they only built models that couldn’t fly) and didn’t even mention the Wright brothers.

The main keys to a practical bar-code system were the laser, an elegant barcode design, and a scanner using mirrors to fold the scanning beam, allowing a linear bar code to be scanned omnidirectionally. Mr. Woodland did not join our department at IBM Raleigh until our concepts were well on their way through development, and none of the claims or innovations in his and Mr. Silver’s earlier 1949 bar-code patent were incorporated in our scanner or symbol design.

I, George J. Laurer, invented the elegant UPC symbol, the EAN symbol, and the trailer designed for the publishing industry. I also hold several patents pertaining to modern-day scanners. In 1973 my contribution was recognized by IBM when I was presented with a corporate-level Outstanding Innovation Award and a significant monetary award.

George J. Laurer
Wendell, N.C.