
:CueCat is back - drm237
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2008/01/29.html
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boredguy8
There are several ways this is different than the :CueCat.

1) I don't have to install an unsightly hardware component

That's right. I already have my chic phone tucked snugly at my hip. It's
already with me wherever I go. The only thing I install is an applet that
'grabs' photos that meet certain requirements. And I don't know about you, but
my phone cam is 1 click away (2 to actually get the picture taken).

2) The information can be immediately useful.

So there's a new restaurant in town. I want to check it out...but what's on
the menu? And I -could- take 4 minutes to type it into my phone, but why?
Snap, and I have an address I to which I can tell Google Maps to direct me.
That's -far- more than typing in a 7-letter word.

3) Note taking

If I'm at home (where my :CueCat is), there's no motivation to do much more
than walk over to my computer and type in a URL. But I've often seen products
on the road or where I can't easily access my computer. Maybe I'm the only
person, but by the time I get home, I forget some things from my day. If I
could take a snapshot and browse at my leisure, I could be forgetful without
stress.

4) Proprietary?

I don't know if the system is proprietary, but if it's not, there's no
chicken-egg problem. You're already printing in print. You already have fine
print. Why not put a little square that means something to a substantial chunk
of people?

5) Controversy?

The :CueCat lost out on a lot of techheads because of privacy concerns. While
the same concerns -could- apply here, they're not nearly as problematic. Plus,
the techheads are ALREADY using the device, albeit overseas.

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iamwil
There are instances where it is in widespread use. Japanese print ads have 2D
barcodes on them. Even blogs and webpages have 2D barcodes, so you can access
URL from your phone. (You can use the 2Dbarcode to forward the blog to your
friends, which your phone already has a list of them)

There are a couple things different there. Most Japanese peoples' access to
the internet has been through their cell phones, rather than through their
computers. Landlines are much more expensive than having a cell phone. In
addition, the majority of Japanese are in urban areas where they use public
transportation. That gives them a lot of down time to play with their phones.
The print ads in the train have the 2D bar codes on them, so people can check
out the ad while they're riding the train. Given that unless you have a full
keypad (real or virtual), it's still harder typing in a phone, than using a 2D
barcode.

That said, I don't think Americans (Don't know about europe) will find as much
use for 2D barcodes for print ads, as we drive everywhere.

However, if I'm walking around the city, I'd find it very handy to be able to
check out how many tickets are left for a show and being able to buy tickets
for the show from the URL in a 2D barcode on the print ad for a show across
town for some impromptu entertainment.

It would also be useful if sewn onto tags of pillows, clothing, other
products, etc, so that would provide product information, or at least a URL
that has the manual, or specs. That way, if some piece were broken, it'd be an
easy way to order replacement parts.

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tlrobinson
Believe it or not, I still have a :CueCat.

I hacked it to output standard barcode numbers (unmodified it uses some silly
obfuscated encoding to lock people into their software).

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marcus
Yes typing a short URL is relatively easy in current phones.

But 2D bar codes allow you to make each URL very long and contain a ton of
other information. Which can be immensely useful for tracking the
effectiveness of each print ad and each campaign.

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drm237
It seems like this could be useful on product tags. Lets say you walk into a
clothing store, find something, but they don't have it in your size. You image
the barcode on the tag, find your size and order it online without ever
leaving the store. Or, it could be used to display items that go well
together...just a thought.

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far33d
I don't understand why they force you to install an app.

Why not just txt msg (MMS) or email it (iphone/blackberry) and then get a
response with a URL or even some basic inline text commands?

~~~
danw
If you have to send a picture message or email in order to get a url back you
might as well send a blank message. The most popular technique in the UK seems
to be sending a keyword to a shortcode, eg "EAT to 2580"

There's an interesting breakdown of QR code usage vs blank message at
[http://whatjapanthinks.com/2008/01/07/accessing-urls-in-
adve...](http://whatjapanthinks.com/2008/01/07/accessing-urls-in-
advertisements-from-mobile-phones/)

~~~
far33d
What if I send a picture of a barcode w/ the text "buy" and bam.. it shows up
in the mail a few days later.

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danw
Perfect, bringing the impulse of real world transaction to ecommerce. Could
even do it with a normal upc barcode instead of Qr/semacode.

Imagine being to do that with a music CD and the songs automagically start
downloading to your phone (possible iPhone app?)

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far33d
That would be very cool... I've read that scanning regular barcodes with a
cameraphone is difficult, but I believe there are some people making headway
with it.

If it were music, I'd rather just make a call to a number, have it listen to
whatever song is in the background, and then download it for me.

Fred Wilson has talked about txt based commerce a bit as well -
<http://avc.blogs.com/a_vc/2008/01/texting-in-purc.html>

~~~
danw
I think you can do the phone call music purchasing in the UK with Shazam
(2580)

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PStamatiou
oh man i had one of those! high-quality cable for free..

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alaskamiller
I still have one.

