I remember seeing supermarket checkout scanners in Vancouver BC and wondering what this space age (now there's a dated term) technology was and why it wasn't al

I remember seeing supermarket checkout scanners in Vancouver BC and wondering what this space age (now there's a dated term) technology was and why it wasn't already in use in Silicon Valley in 1980. George Bush was similarly amazed ... in 1992. The UPC was developed in the US starting in 1966 starting from freight car identification. Yes, late product release in the US even if the product was developed in the US is an old technique.