Part 1: Will Barcodes Bridge The Gap Between Reality And The Net?
One of the promises of the mobile web was the possibility of being able to integrate the internet with the real world. One of the ways to accomplish this task is through the use of barcodes. The idea is that you take a picture of the barcode with your camera phone and you're then delivered to a mobile web site. This could effectively make anything - whether a poster, an ad, or an object - a virtual part of the world wide web. Although this technology has been available for years, it's only now with the birth of the smartphone, or more precisely, the next-gen smartphone, that the potential for this type of integration may finally be realized.
Smartphones have been around for years, but even though every business worker had a Blackberry glued to their hip, it wasn't until the iPhone that the true potential of smartphones was realized. These are no longer phones, but tiny, portable computers we fill with our favorite applications. The iPhone paved the way for the next generation of these "computer phones," but it isn't your only choice - Google has now entered the game. Yesterday, we saw the launch of the iPhone's first competitor, the T-Mobile G1. Around the corner both RIM and Windows Mobile are preparing their new phones and OS's, too.
Now that we have new, usable, app-friendly, and yes, downright fun, mini computers in our pockets, will we began to interact with the real world in different ways? There is that possibility. And one of (supposed) future trends for the mobile web is the scanning of barcodes to interact with real-world objects.
In 2000, an internet technology startup, Digital Convergence, saw their :CueCat barcodes appear in newspapers and magazines all over the U.S. Unfortunately, this company required a separate piece of hardware in order to read the barcodes, so, as you may have gathered, the technology didn't quite take off as no one wanted to carry around yet another device for the sole purpose of scanning ads.
Then, at the beginning of this year, Google attempted to revitalize the barcode again. This time, through their Print Ads service. Advertisers can choose to include barcodes that will appear in newspapers and are readable with any camera phone. The Print Ad publisher network from Google provides access to 800 newspapers, representing nearly 70% of all U.S. paid circulation. Although thousands of advertisers have Google Print Ads, the barcodes themselves haven't hit mainstream usage yet. When asked about conversion rates for barcode "clickthoughs" or the percentage of advertisers using and renewing this service, Google won't disclose any details. If the program were a raging success, there's no doubt that those numbers would be happily shared as proof of the technology's potential.
But we can't blame Google for wanting to keep quiet about the barcodes and their lack of adoption. This is still very much an emerging technology where success is largely unproven. And in our unstable economy, advertisers may be hesitant to use such a risky and unproven option for their ads.
It's possible that the failure of the barcode to gain traction could be simply a case of marketing to the wrong demographic. Let's be honest, the people who still take a daily newspaper instead of getting their news via the TV or web aren't, in general, likely to be the most cutting-edge technology enthusiasts. So, the question remains: how can you get the attention of hippest web users when your scannable barcodes are on paper, not screens? And once you have early adopter involvement, how can this technology go mainstream?
In part two of this post, continued tomorrow, we'll look at a company that thinks they may have that answer...stay tuned.
See also: The Scannable World, Part 2: Scanning Your Web Printouts
The Scannable World, Part 3: Barcode Scanning In The Real World
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Interesting, I have seen these barcodes everywhere in Japan during my recent trip, they appear on ads in the streets, newspapers, products packaging, etc..
Maybe you should look at how the barcodes are used there for the second part of the article!
Posted by: Lorenzo | September 24, 2008 10:34 AM
I think as smart phones drop in price and become more mainstream you will begin to slowly see more bar codes on newspapers, magazines, posters, etc. It will take time for people to recognize them and to react because it is very new, but this is where the future of interactive advertising will lead us. A lot of those ads will set up separate websites specifically for people who scan in and users will be opened up to new worlds of information, or crap.
Craig
www.budgetpulse.com
Posted by: Craig | September 24, 2008 10:35 AM
Tests from different research groups and universities showed, that that QR codes in advertising can , but not necessarily do work.
Anyways...test it yourself: http://www.viooli.com/qrcodegenerator/demo.php
Posted by: Viooli | September 24, 2008 12:07 PM
Like Lorenzo has mentioned, these are already in wide use in Japan. Even small shops relatively in the middle of nowhere have one on a poster on the window. eg a small city yoga studio has the barcode on a poster in the window (or in any newspaper / magazine advert it does), and people can then scan it to get information on classes, schedules, costs etc. On product packaging, people can choose to get extra information, eg a food product may provide novel recipes for its use via the barcode system.
Also, in Japan all the boarding passes for flights contained this style of barcode too, which you then scanned as you went through security and again for boarding.
Posted by: Robert | September 25, 2008 7:08 AM
Re: "...how can this technology go mainstream?
In part two of this post, continued tomorrow, we'll look at a company that thinks they may have that answer...stay tuned."
I'm hoping you have done your research on this and have something fresh to report.
After this build up it would be unfortunate if Part 2 ended up facilitating the PR efforts of one of the companies that are attempting to erect a walled garden around mobile bar code publishing, scanning, and services -- thereby stifling innovation and open competition within the emerging U.S. bar code ecosystem.
Mainstream America is Ready for Bar Codes - Converging “Realspace” and “Mobilespace”
http://harper.wirelessink.com/2006/03/29/mainstream-america-is-ready-for-bar-codes-converging-realspace-and-mobilespace/
Posted by: David Harper | September 25, 2008 12:08 PM
I read ReadWriteWeb avidly, but if I hear "the iPhone is the first real smartphone" once more, I will scream. Nokia N-series phones have had barcode reader software on them for several years (oh, and they can do cut and paste as well). And there's a Dutch company, Shotcode, who for several yeahave been providing a reader to run on all sorts of phones, and a service to allow you to create barcodes.
Yes, I agree that this has failed to take off in the US and Europe so far. And yes, maybe a load of techie types with new toys in their pockets may finally get it into the mainstream. So iPhone hype may be the catalyst to get this going, but please stop saying that the iPhone is the first real smartphone.
Posted by: Richard Hughes | September 25, 2008 1:54 PM
I enjoyed reading all three installments of this piece. The links to sites involved in innovative barcode projects was fun to explore.
This piece picks up where I left off in a white paper on consumer auto ID several years ago. www.azalea.com/WhitePapers/ConsumerAutoID.pdf
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