For nearly 100 years, the key-punch-type cash register has been the means by which Americans have paid for retail store purchases. Three years ago (in June 1974) an all new, automated "bar scan" system was introduced at a supermarket in Ohio. This new format is making cash registers, such as the model seen above, obsolete.
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This new system uses something called a "Universal Product Code." This consists of a 12-digit label that is read by a laser "scanner" device. There is no need to manually punch in the price of every item (as was the case with the standard cash register). 
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