Podcast Summary: New Books Network
Episode: Jordan Frith, "Barcode" (Bloomsbury, 2023)
Date: December 31, 2025
Host: Dr. Miranda Melcher
Guest: Dr. Jordan Frith, Pierce Professor of Professional Communication, Clemson University
Overview
In this episode, Dr. Miranda Melcher interviews Dr. Jordan Frith about his book "Barcode," part of Bloomsbury's Object Lessons series. The book unpacks the history, workings, controversies, and cultural significance of the barcode—a technology so embedded in modern life that we hardly notice it anymore. Through engaging anecdotes, technical explanations, and cultural analysis, Frith explores how this simple technology has shaped—and continues to shape—our daily lives and global commerce.
Key Discussion Points and Insights
1. Why Write a Book About Barcodes?
[02:17–06:47]
- Dr. Frith’s research shifted from flashy new media (VR, smartphones) to invisible infrastructures that shape our lives.
- Inspired after realizing that, despite the hype around technologies like RFID, barcodes remain more significant and successful.
- What started as a plan for a small article expanded into a full book after discovering the depth of barcode history, even finding an archive at Stony Brook University.
- Quote: “I've just become more interested in the mundane and how it shapes our lives and how we don't notice it… Becoming boring is maybe the ultimate praise you can give to the ultimate success of a technology.” — Jordan Frith [06:47]
2. What Are Barcodes and How Do They Work?
[07:38–13:39]
- Types of Barcodes:
- Linear (1D) Barcodes: Recognizable black lines with numbers—e.g., UPC, EAN.
- 2D Barcodes: Square formats readable in multiple directions, storing more data (like QR codes).
- Barcode Mechanics:
- UPC barcodes use 15 pairs of lines; 12 contain data, 3 are guard bars.
- Data is encoded in patterns of black and white lines, interpreted through binary.
- Barcodes only store an ID number; pricing and other information are stored in a backend database.
- Quote: “You can actually train yourself to read those lines… if you try really hard.” — Jordan Frith [12:38]
3. Why Have Barcodes Endured Over More ‘Advanced’ Technologies?
[14:17–18:38]
- Despite advances like RFID, barcodes have lasted 50 years largely unchanged (first UPC scan: 1974).
- Advantages:
- Simplicity—they only store an ID, with all data elsewhere.
- Deeply entrenched infrastructure and global standards.
- Training millions to use them and replacing them would be costly and disruptive.
- Alternatives (like RFID) are more technologically complex and error-prone.
- Quote: “Barcodes are pretty simple and work and we’re very used to them. So replacing everything we've built… is going to take a lot of work… nothing has come around, which is why we're still buying groceries with a 50-year-old technology.” — Jordan Frith [18:08]
4. Why Do Barcodes Look the Way They Do?
[19:30–23:42]
- The ‘bar’ design wasn’t inevitable: original patents (1949) proposed a bullseye (concentric circles).
- In the early 1970s, a grocery-industry ad hoc committee narrowed down to two finalists: the IBM linear barcode (UPC) and the RCA bullseye design.
- Linear UPC was chosen by just a few votes; barcodes could have looked radically different.
- Decisions made—data standards, separation of symbol and standard—still impact global commerce.
- Quote: “Once something becomes so taken for granted, it feels inevitable… it's kind of remarkable to realize how close we came to ending up with something completely different.” — Jordan Frith [23:18]
5. The Power of Standards and Simple Design
[23:57–27:58]
- Standards committees kept data encoded in barcodes simple (just an ID), not including price or expiration.
- Numbering systems are tightly controlled; first digits indicate country, company, product class, and a check digit.
- Tight standardization led to global scalability—emulated by other industries.
- These bureaucratic decisions, made in ‘random boardrooms,’ ended up shaping global infrastructure.
6. Controversy and Pushback: Barcodes in the 1970s
[28:24–39:57]
- Barcodes sparked national protests, boycotts, and legislative hearings in the US—much to the surprise of inventors and manufacturers.
- Major controversy: elimination of item-level pricing for shelf-level pricing. Labor and consumer groups feared loss of transparency and agency.
- Carol Tucker Foreman, Consumer Federation of America, led a nationwide protest campaign.
- At one point, retail adoption was so slow that insiders doubted whether barcodes would survive.
- Quote: “The greatest threat the barcode ever faced... led by a woman who was really important and very successful and very powerful.” — Jordan Frith [36:14]
7. From Controversy to Mundanity: The 1992 Presidential Election
[41:15–49:57]
- By the early ’90s, barcodes had become so mundane that being unfamiliar with them was used as a political attack.
- George H.W. Bush was reported as being amazed by a barcode at a grocery convention—a story picked up by the NYT and used by opponents to paint him as out-of-touch.
- The story was exaggerated—he’d actually seen new, unreleased tech—but the narrative ‘stuck,’ haunting him through his presidency and even in obituaries.
- Quote: “By 1992… if you didn't know what a barcode was, you simply just didn’t shop. That's a remarkable turnaround from a technology that had been highly controversial… a little over a decade earlier.” — Jordan Frith [49:19]
8. Barcodes as the Mark of the Beast
[50:31–59:19]
- Some evangelical groups interpret barcodes as the ‘Mark of the Beast’ from Revelation, predicting tattooed barcodes and cashless economies as steps toward apocalypse.
- Sustained minor boycotts, conspiracy books, and even protest letters ensued—often hinging on a misunderstanding that barcodes embed ‘666’ in their design.
- While this did not threaten barcode adoption, it’s a fascinating example of how technology is culturally interpreted.
- Quote: “Barcodes… in some niche evangelical groups became essentially the work of the devil… to some communities [they] represent something much deeper, quite literally apocalyptic.” — Jordan Frith [57:27]
9. Will QR Codes Replace Barcodes?
[59:56–69:26]
- No—because QR codes are barcodes; they’re a type of 2D (matrix) barcode, just more data-dense and readable in multiple directions.
- Multiple 2D barcode types exist; QR codes are just most visible.
- QR codes' popularity in the West exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for ‘touchless’ interactions, but they were already central to payment systems in East Asia.
- Cultural perceptions and practical uses influence barcode technology adoption, not just technical advances.
- Quote: “QR codes are barcodes. And also QR codes are far from the only 2D barcode… So next time you board a plane… you’re gonna have a 2D barcode.” — Jordan Frith [61:00]
10. What Didn’t Make the Book?
[70:01–74:23]
- Frith wishes he could have written more about:
- International histories (Europe/Japan)
- The role of patent trolls (Jerome Lemelson’s lawsuits over barcode patents)
- Artistic/activist barcode interventions (e.g., war with Walmart by art collective Recoding.org using fake barcodes)
- Quote: “Barcodes are actually a really essential piece in the history of patent trolls… So those are two things [patent suits and barcode activism] I wish I could have spent more time on.” — Jordan Frith [72:13]
11. What’s Next?
[74:23–76:02]
- Frith plans to write public-facing pieces on the cultural imagination of barcodes (e.g., barcodes in dystopian sci-fi, tattoos, architecture).
- Also researching "infrastructural ghosts"—forgotten but still-visible physical infrastructures (like the AT&T microwave relay network).
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- “Becoming boring is maybe the ultimate praise you can give to the ultimate success of a technology.” — Jordan Frith [06:47]
- “The history is wild because barcodes are kind of this taken for granted technology… it feels inevitable.” — Jordan Frith [23:16]
- “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it… Still doing what it needs to.” — Miranda Melcher [18:38]
- On the mark of the beast: “Barcodes, sign of the Antichrist. That same barcode… to some communities represents something much deeper, something like quite literally apocalyptic.” — Jordan Frith [57:27]
- On the Bush grocery store moment: “Not knowing what a barcode is… became a kiss of death for a president as being too out of touch with the American people.” — Jordan Frith [45:56]
Important Segment Timestamps
- [02:17] — Why Dr. Frith wrote about barcodes
- [07:38] — Types of barcodes and their mechanics
- [14:17] — Barcodes’ resilience over technologies like RFID
- [19:30] — How the barcode’s appearance was chosen
- [28:24] — 1970s controversies and protests
- [41:15] — 1992: Barcodes as ‘mundane’ in US political culture
- [50:31] — The “Mark of the Beast” controversy
- [59:56] — QR codes: Hype, death, and COVID-era resurgence
- [70:01] — What got cut from the book / Additional stories
- [74:23] — What’s next for Dr. Frith's research
Conclusion
This episode highlights both the everyday invisibility and the extraordinary cultural resonance of barcodes. Dr. Frith’s research unpacks a technology that exemplifies “mundane infrastructure”—a simple idea with world-changing effects, endless stories, and cultural meanings, from economics to conspiracy theories. The product of archival deep-dives and curiosities about the mundane, Barcode brings forward the unseen yet omnipresent ways that infrastructure and standards shape our lives.