EP#404: The Barcode is 50 with its creator, Paul V. McEnroe

Parker and Stephen speak with Paul V. McEnroe, an award-winning engineer who developed multiple state-of-the-art technologies during his long career, including more than two decades in leadership roles at IBM. McEnroe is best known for his primary role in developing the Universal Product Code (UPC), the barcode used on every product in supermarkets and the retail industry, and the scanners that read them. In 2023, the barcode celebrates its 50th anniversary but now Paul is setting the record straight on the real story with his new book, THE BARCODE - How a Team Created One of the World's Most Ubiquitous Technologies. The discussion also covered subjects like being car nuts and Paul’s past ownership of a Buick Torpedo, a TR3, a Porsche Super 90, and a Jag XK150S Roadster, his apparent aptitude for being a mortician, control units and mainframes, where lasers were sourced from at the time, buying monkeys from Africa, owning the patent on the pistol grip scanner, what to make of QR codes, and much more! 

Relevant links:THE BARCODE - How a Team Created One of the World's Most Ubiquitous TechnologiesMEP EP#320: The Drop Ship ShuffleMEP EP#387: Recursive Vending MachinesMEP EP#398: Duke Nukem v. Parker, Raspberry Pi 5, Weldestroyer!Join the Circuit Break Discourse Community!Thank you for listening to the MacroFab Engineering Podcast!  We’d love to hear what you think of the show so please tweet at us @MacroFab and join our Circuit Break Community for discussions or email us at [email protected].