Datastrip Code

Datastrip Code, originally Softstrip, is reportedly the first 2D bar code symbology, released in 1985. (But the comedy book, The 80s: A Look Back, published in 1979, had fake 2D bar codes in it.) The intended purpose was as a way for magazines to publish computer-readable data, such as program listings (which, in those days, were commonly printed in computer magazines such that the user would have to type them in).

Links

 * Wikipedia article (under the title Cauzin Softstrip)
 * US Patent 4,728,783
 * 1985 New York Times article
 * Combating terrorism at sea with Datastrip (press release)
 * Datastrip Code info