GREENSBORO, N.C. — The checkout has changed over the years. First, cashiers manually punched in the price of an item, then the scanners made check-out much quicker, and today, there's self-check-out.

The next generation of barcodes includes a heavy emphasis on QR codes and smartphone-use. Fifty years ago, on June 26, 1974, the first universal product code (UPC) was scanned at a Marsh Supermarket ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Tony Bradley covers the intersection of tech and entertainment. It seems like QR codes are everywhere now. Thanks to the COVID ...