Famous Products - More About the Barcode

The inventor of the barcode died recently at the grand old age of 91.

N. Joseph Woodland only recieved $15,000 when he sold U.S. patent 2,612,994 for the bar code. Sadly that's all Mr Woodland ever made from the invention that changed queues in checkouts everywhere.

When Woodland patented the barcode along with Bernard Silver in 1952, they needed a massive scanner, however the invention of lasers was when the barcode really became successful.

Trunki - An investment missed by the Dragons

Rob Law had a superb idea. A suitcase with wheels that you can tow your kids about in a busy airport. It sounded good and indeed the product looked good.

But for some reason the Dragons in BBC’s TV show Dragons’ Den were not impressed. Theo Paphitis broke a strap off the Trunki, which seemed to be the coup de gras for Rob Law.

However he has went from strength to strength and Trunkis are now commonplace around the UK, being sold as luggage in John Lewis, Debenhams and Mothercare.

So again, more proof that the Dragons don’t always get it right.

Famous Products: The Shopping Trolley

In the 1930s a grocery store owner from Oklahoma called Sylvan Goldman came up with a novel way for shoppers to move around larger volume of groceries. In those days shoppers used baskets, which were heavy and offered only a limited amount of sales.

Goldman and one of his employees got a patent for "the Folding Basket Carriage for self-service stores" in 1940. Goldman tried his best to prevent shoppers using baskets but this didn't seem to work.

Eventually after many demonstrations people started to 'get it' and the modern shopping trolleys or carts as the Americans call them are descended from the invention of Sylvan Goldman.