Point of Sale Hardware: 100 Years of Evolution

Point of Sale Hardware: 100 Years of Evolution I have my B.A. in History and my inner nerd gets really excited when I can combine the past with information on present technology (I’m so ready to join the cast ofThe Big Bang Theory). Wait! Don’t leave! I promise that this article will be really interesting and that you will be able to apply real life knowledge to improving how you run your business. (Wow, those are two really big claims. If I’m wrong, I vow to magically give you back these next ten minutes of your life.) 1883- Of course point of sale systems started before the cash register (like with the exchange of wampum shells or calculations made on an abacus), but the first modern day version of the cash register was invented by James Ritty and John Birch following the American Civil War. Ritty owned a saloon and wanted a way to prevent his employees from stealing the cash, therefore bringing “Ritty's Incorruptible Cashier” into existence. 1884– Unfortunately for Ritty, no one was really buying into his new invention so he decided to sell his patent. John Henry Patterson and his brother Frank Jefferson Patterson bought the company and the rights then renamed it the National Cash Register Company (NCR). Not only is it still in existence today, but it has been the premier manufacturer of cash registers and on the forefront of innovation for many decades. 1911– NCR sells one million cash registers and employs over 6,000 workers.