Scan and deliver. (Image credit: Wikipedia)
Have you ever wanted to tweet the link to an awesome article you just read?
Great and easy if you’re on reading on the Web, but what if you’re reading from a print magazine or newspaper?
Now you gotta get up from your chair to go to your computer (if you’re near it)… go look up the rag’s website… search for the article… copy the URL… shorten the URL… and zzzzzzzz….
I was reading TIME magazine’s list of “The 50 Worst Inventions,” which included ideas from the the Segway to Venetian-blind sunglasses. But the list also included the CueCat, the personal bar code scanner that was distributed through magazines like Forbes and Wired in the 1990′s enticing readers to look up companies featured in printed ads:
Millions of the cat-shaped bar-code scanners were produced and shipped for free across the U.S., in hopes that people would use them to scan specially marked bar codes to visit Internet sites. (How this was easier than a typing a link, the company never did answer.)
So, the CueCat went extinct. But why couldn’t that concept work today – for tweeting and social bookmarking?
For every print article you publish, you can print a tiny bar code or QR code of a shortened URL to the online version of that article. A reader can photograph this code with their smart phone camera.
Then, you modify a smart phone Twitter client (HootSuite, Echofon, etc.) to photograph and read these codes, then unwraps the shortened URL and inserts it into the message to be tweeted (not unlike this example of a QR code billboard). Or, modify bookmarking apps for Digg or del.icio.us to read these codes and add the article URL directly to your collection.
The benefits of code scanning, then, isn’t limited to driving more ad traffic or quick searches.
Coincidentally, a PC World article on May 28 reported on that the Microsoft Tag service is no longer in beta. The website lets users create an inventory of QR codes for their own website pages.
Anyone willing to give this a shot?
As always, folks think a like, and I always fear that one of my random ideas might in fact be unintentionally rehashing what someone else has already said. Apologies in advance for any infringements, and please do link to any appropriate credits!
6 comments
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2010/05/29 at 19:08
Tweets that mention Cloning the Prehistoric CueCat « Ben Young Landis -- Topsy.com
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Andria Krewson, Ben Young Landis. Ben Young Landis said: #journalism #fon Cloning the Prehistoric CueCat: http://ow.ly/1REBg Elaborating on my last tweet and this @Time article: http://ow.ly/1REBu [...]
2010/05/29 at 21:04
Glendon Mellow
That would be fantastic, Ben.
I’m an avid traditional newspaper reader (I stop in the park on my way to work) and being able to instantly tweet from print would be a lot more fun.
2010/05/29 at 22:43
younglandis
Thanks for the comment, Glendon!
@underoak sent a cool link about a concept design to link scan codes to playable music: http://twitter.com/underoak/status/15016811042
Why not podcasts? Another scan code use could be to copy URL to the podcast version of that article — and download the podcast file directly to your phone, for your listening convenience…
2010/06/01 at 07:11
younglandis
Another followup tweet from @underoak:
http://twitter.com/underoak/status/15171717794
(the correct link is http://www.i-nigma.com/PressReleases.html)
Would be interesting to see how user-friendly all these code scanning apps actually are, in terms of speed, accuracy, and interface…
2010/06/01 at 18:16
Tyler Dukes
Interesting idea Ben. A coworker and I were actually discussing this today in light of a Purdue professor who started embedding QR codes in books.
http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Purdue-Professor-Embeds/24378/
My argument with the books is that the codes would take them out of the novel, making it harder to read.
In terms of magazines and newspapers though, it might work better since they’re designed to have multiple points of entry for the reader. I also love the concept of integrating this with social media.
2010/06/01 at 22:41
younglandis
Thanks, Tyler! That’s a cool news bit about the Purdue professor. I think that would be distracting as well. Pleasure reading is more linear of an experience, whilst mags and papers are more multiple entry, as you pointed out.
Interesting that Matei will also apply it to a scholarly essay collection — which might be more appropriate. I wonder if it’s worth embedding QR codes in Open Laboratory 2010?? Give a code to each blog entry, in addition to the URL we already give?
But then it comes back to the actual time/convenience trade-off of the thing. If a reader possess a book (be it a purchase or rental), than her intent is probably to invest some duration of time to read it and hang on to it. There would be plenty of opportunities to sit down, and type out or share any accompanying URLs, if any begged interest.
I’m betting the psychology is different for the more ephemeral, more aggregative forms of print periodicals — like newspapers — and more suited to experiment with code stamping. The reading experience is more fleeting and random. You normally don’t have the time or place to write links down.
I’m thinking of the random (and free) paper you pick up at the coffee shop or at the dentist, where you read something interesting but it’s not worth it to physically tear out the page. Or if you’re on the go, browsing the airport newsstand.
Or here’s another idea: interpretive signs at parks, zoos, and historic sites? Snap this code stamp with your phone camera to learn more — at your convenience later at home/hotel. I’m sure someone’s done this already.