By Jill Soley
Wouldn't it be cool if you could scan in the barcode of the Diet
Coke you're drinking and immediately be whisked to the Diet Coke web
page? Okay, maybe not. But it would be pretty cool if when you ran
out of Diet Coke you could just scan the barcode with a handy little
barcode reader and Homeruns or similar grocery delivery service would
deliver it to your door.
A company called Digital:Convergence (www.digitalconvergence.com)
makes a handheld scanner called CueCat which is similar in size to
a computer mouse but shaped like a cat. The CueCat hooks up to a personal
computer, and when swiped across certain bar codes on products and
in magazines and newspapers, opens the related Web page on the PC's
browser. The CueCat is currently being given away free to Radio Shack
customers and subscribers of partnering magazines. So, when a reader
discovers interesting article or advertisement in Forbes Magazine
or Wired, he can get more information by scanning the magazine with
the CueCat and thereby viewing the associated webpage without having
to type in the url.
Digital:Convergence gets credit for taking another step toward converging
traditional media with the web. Their solution seemingly gets rid
of the problem of forgetting those confusing urls. However, their
method requires that users be near thier computers when reading magazines
or watching television. Digital Convergence has to fight the paradigm
of computer as office/desk furniture. At the very least, I should
be able to scan an article with my PDA and expect it to save the url
or open the relevant webpage.
There are some potentially interesting applications for CueCat. I
would love to create a grocery list by simply scanning the products
as I empty them and have them delivered to my house weekly or sit
on my couch and use my remote/CueCat to order pizza from the Pizza
Hut commercial or a "Thigh Master" on the Home Shopping
Network. But as for interesting content applications, I must admit,
I am at a loss.
Digital:Convergence, of course, is trying to sell users on the content
applications of CueCat: When watching a television show or reading
an article about an interesting topic, say the Egyptian Pyramids,
a user could theoretically use his CueCat to learn more via the web.
PBS documentaries might use CueCat as a way to link viewers to the
supplementary content on their website. Game shows might allow online
users to play simultaneously using this device. But I'm not sure these
applications provide anything to the user other than replacing one
mouse with another and avoiding a keyboard.
The most interesting aspect of CueCat so far is the unintended consequence.
Apparently, there has been major controversy because hackers decoded
the software that came with the device and began writing their own
CueCat applications. Http://flyingbuttmonkeys.com/foocat/ and http://www.accipiter.org/cat.html
explain how the software works and link to some of these applications.
I am watching to see what they come up with. One group already wrote
an application that searches for the best online prices when users
to scan in a book code. But, again, this simply makes purchasing easier
via the web.
At the end of the day, the CueCat is most interesting to companies
because it makes purchasing easier and provides detailed customer
information. Each CueCat has a unique identifier so if users scan
their magazines and grocery items then companies will know what they
buy, when they buy, and be able to directly target their advertising.
Kudos to Digital:Convergence for trying an alternative interface
but I think it still has a long way to go. Once the wires to the computer
are cut, memory is added, and other services besides opening webpages
are tied to the device, then users will find the device convenient
and advertisers will find the user information and direct links to
purchasing opportunities worthwhile. To that end, Digital:Convergence
has two products due in Q2 200, The Cross :Convergence pen will remember
up to 300 Web addresses and The Key :Cat Fob, a new mobile reader,
will be small enough to fit on a key chain for use anytime, anywhere.
It's a start.