February 09, 2006

Shotcodes
posted by Argh 18 years ago
  • I am reminded of the :CueCat. And there was some webcam-based scheme very much like this for magazine ads, too, I think. I suppose the addition of portability and the involvement of actual transactions of some kind could make this one work, though.
  • A similar concept, the QR code is already widely used by japanese consumer, basically via cameraphones.
  • Are they going to give away cameraphones like the cuecat guys gave away barcode readers? /still cellphoneless //plans to stay that way ///don't need another way to make impulse purchases
  • I've resisted them too, Mord, but it's become so that the are now, even with all ther suckiness (extortionist carrier companies, shitty service, crappy sound and reception quality, and possible long-term health hazards), truly a necessity. Believe me, I was the token luddite that friends and clients offered to provide a cell, just so I was reachable, and used them only in very specific, emergency situations. But now, after a few months of lugging one around, can't help but accept it: they can be useful. And they can be turned off... Plus, I also get to annoy people with my own Simpsons ringtone!
  • I'm hardly resisting, I just don't need one. I can be contacted over an office land line or a home land line, and if I'm not at either of those places, I don't want to be reached. Leave a voicemail. If I were in a profession where I was constantly in my car, or needed to be on call 24 hours, I could see it. But barring that, the only reason I can see to have one, is for the car in case it breaks down somewhere in death valley. /also doesn't have cable //really funny when the cable guy comes to my door ///cable? you mean you don't download your entertainment off the internet? They seem to not be adding a lot of utility, more in the way of gimmicks, like this. This tells me that all the people who are going to get cellphones did, and the emphasis is on getting them to buy new ones with a better camera.
  • how do i shot code? is it too hard to remember companyname.com or is this something i would need a cellphone to understand?
  • See also The cell phone becomes the ticket. Two great tastes that taste great together?
  • Mord: I really hated the idea of the cell phone myself. Then I finally got fed up with my home phone and got rid of the damn thing. No more telemarketers, no more having to pay ridiculous fees to have things like decent voicemail, caller ID, or a truly unlisted number, no more worries about long distance fees (hell, most of my calls are to my wife - and those are free). Best of all, it has a power button. I can shut it off. All this for much less than my old land line. Plus the convenience of having it with me at all times - if I go on a trip to California, my phone works. Canada? Works. Europe? Still works. Move across town, to a different area code, to a different state? One less utility to change, so no service fees there, and my number doesn't change unless I want it to. (As for cable... well, the bastards at Comcast just dropped HBO from my expanded basic package. If I want it back I can sign up for digital, which starts at $75 a month. Thanks, Comcast! That's just what I wanted, to pay you $25 more than I do now for the exact same service, plus set top box rental to boot! Asswipes...) Now, do I think this bar code thingy is a good idea? Don't know. The sheer ubiquity of camera phones makes this inevitable, I guess, but the current cost of mobile internet makes me think this won't be so popular. I never use my phone to browse the web because (a) damn tiny screen, and (b) it costs too much per megabyte for me to really think it is useful. The terminally online might be excited about the feature though.
  • Best of all, it has a power button. I can shut it off. If thats the best thing it has going for it... I can turn off the ringer on my land-line too. :-)
  • And I don't have a contract on the land line, and it runs $20 a month for unlimited local (which is where I make most of my calls). I mean, yeah, I know the land lines are gonna die. And when I can make virtually free calls over the internet from a cellphone, without a contract, I'll get one.
  • Oh right, the topic at hand. As for this, well, the Japanese have been experimenting with a digital wallet, basically a cell phone + secure cash for vending machines. I think that THAT is a great convergence app, if I could get over the security ramifications of having credit card info tied to a wireless equipped cellphone. As for the digital cameras and shot marks, well, why not embed RFIDs in the places you want this utility, and skip the camera part, just have the phone read the rfid from an inch or two away, like the speedpass things at the gas station. If I wanted a camera (and I do), I'd get a good one, which I have (NIKON D70s... THAT is a digital camera), rather than making a cell phone do something its not really very good at.
  • I just learned how to take and send a photo with my phone. It is something I am glad that I learned to do, but will probably never do again and will forget the whole experience shorty. Sort of like logarithms.