Norman Joseph Woodland, the co-inventor of the bar code that labels nearly every product in stores, has died. He was 91.
Woodland died Sunday in Edgewater, N.J., from the effects of Alzheimer’s disease, his daughter, Susan Woodland of New York, said Thursday. Woodland and Bernard Silver were students at what is now called Drexel University in Philadelphia when Silver overheard a grocery-store executive asking an engineering school dean to channel students into research on how product information could be captured at checkout, Susan Woodland said.
Woodland dropped out of graduate school to work on the bar code idea.
News Tribune news services
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.