Mobile Barcodes Rock

Opportunities Found and Lost

2008-12-29T09:23:00.000-08:00

To try these codes out on your own phone, text the word "scan" to 70734, or navigate on your phone to getscanlife.com

I'm always excited to find real life uses of codes out in the market place, and anxious to provide advice--usually unsolicited--on how to use them even better.

Take Cellufun, for example. If you navigate to their site from your desktop or laptop (http://www.cellufun.com/), you'll find that this is an excellent wap-oriented site that provides all sorts of free entertaining stuff for your phone--games, screensavers, ringers, etc. Right there on the front page is an EZCode that looks something like the one on the left here.

This is an excellent example of making it very easy for someone to move from one form of media to another using mobile codes. Let's face it: talking about wireless services on the web is kind of like talking about heaven while on earth. It's not really possible. It's just a shadow of what it must really be like. It's much better to go to the discussed medium and actually experience it.

Scan the code listed above, and you get the main menu of cellufun for the wap phone. From there you can navigate and actually experience all the wonderful things cellufun has to offer.

BUT, it could be even better, and Cellufun is missing an opportunity. If you navigate on your desktop to a particular game, you can learn all about the game. I happen to like the venerabl minesweeper and I hyperlinked happily there on my laptop. I was even happier to find that there was a code right there on the minesweeper page to help me make the jump to my mobile. But alas, the disappointment to discover it was the exact same code as the one on the main page. I had navigated to minesweeper and was interested enough in playing it that I scanned the code, but found that it was the exact same code as the one found on the homepage! In other words, I found minesweeper on the wireline, was interested enough to try it out on the wireless, and Cellufun essentially forced me to navigate AGAIN from the homepage on the wireless!

Codes enable a lot of things never before enabled that must be absorbed by code publishers and users alike. Here are a few:

The codes themselves are essentially free. You can make as many codes as you want to make without incremental cost. Why? Because the supply of codes is limitless! Contrast this with an SMS shortcode, where a limited number of available codes drives intrinsic value to the codes themselves.
With free codes, the luxury of precision becomes available. Want to measure a specific campaign? Create a specific code! Want to drive people to a particular spot on your wap site? Create a specific code? You really could create hundreds, thousands, and millions of unique codes without too much trouble.

I have no direct connection to Cellufun, but I hope they'll give multiple codes a try. Why not create unique codes for each game, directing users to that unique experience? Save them some time! Show them some respect! Reward them for wanting to try out your services!

Making print advertising more relevant

2008-12-19T14:01:00.000-08:00

To try these codes out on your own phone, text the word "scan" to 70734, or navigate on your phone to getscanlife.com

You don't have to be paying much attention to know that traditional media is hurting. Newspapers, magazines, television, and so on. The current crisis is part of a trend that started years ago and will continue for years to come.

Although you could point in many directions, what's primarily at stake is ad spending. As more spending follows readers online, fewer ad dollars are available for print. Fewer ad dollars means less editorial.

Barcodes could enhance the relevance and usefulness of print advertisement. Imagine if you will the following scenario: I've met my date for dinner and we generally know we want to go to a movie. But which movie, what's good, when does it start, will it be crowded, etc? What's useful in this case is discovery in print, and completion on wireless. If I happen to have the newspaper movie listings page, a code like this, printed in the paper, could initiate a rich dialogue and learning experience.

I have no idea whether this code will expire in some way soon because it happens to be part of a service from movietickets.com. If it happens to still be working when you try it, you'll see that it directs you to a particular theater and a particular film, and the times the film will be showing today.

Envision the opportunities available now that we have managed a transition to an electronic experience! You can read reviews. You can see how other regular people thought about the film. You can find the best showtimes. You can buy the tickets and use your phone as a proxy for the tickets themselves. On some phones you can watch a trailer of the film. You could find the nearest theater using location based services and even get directions.

We used the newspaper as the initial communication device, and we used the mobile to explore and seal the deal. This is an ideal combination, a mass communication mechanism calling out, and a highly personal mechanism allowing exploration and differentiation..

2008-12-17T15:55:00.000-08:00

To try these codes out on your own phone, text the word "scan" to 70734, or navigate on your phone to getscanlife.com

I'm old enough to have teenagers and I've decided to get them to give me ideas that I can share with all of you. This one came from them but equally valuable for all of us, for different reasons. For me, my memory is slipping. For them, they're just careless.

I told a friend of mine about this idea and he said it should be branded "Dude, where's my car?" here's the idea: You pull into a parking lot, at work, at a mall, at a sports event, etc. The main idea is the parking lot is big and it won't be immediately obvious where you parked.

When you park your car, before you walk in, you scan this code. it immediately takes you to a wireless web page with a map where your car is. The map URL is unique to your spot, and uniquely associated with a unique code. Remeber, there are gazillions of codes and gazillions of URLs, therefore you can be as precise as you want to be.

When you leave and you want to figure out where you parked, launch your browser again to see where your car is parked. Or set it up the original code as an SMS code to have a response message sent to your handset with a link to a web address.

You could charge users for this service, or it could be ad supported at every stage of the process (at especially high CPMs because these ads could be location-based). Or, you could provide it for free in exchange for executing desirable behaviors, such as stopping by a particular desk for "validation." You could actually withhold the view of the map until such validation is obtained. An entrepreneur could sell this solution to a mall, shopping center, or to a large corporation.

Okay, another good idea, delivered free of charge to all you entrepreneurs out there. I tell you, I'm printing money for you!

Photography Services and barcodes

2008-12-10T05:13:00.000-08:00

To try these codes out on your own phone, text the word "scan" to 70734, or navigate on your phone to getscanlife.com

You've all been to a themepark where complete strangers approach you and take pictures of you. Turns out that these are theme park employees trying to sell you the photos later on for exorbitant prices. This happens to be a pretty big money maker for them. The mechanism for transaction hinges on a plastic card with a regular barcode on it. They scan the barcode and associate the photo they just snapped with the barcode.

The theme parks could enhance the photo experience and encourage greater revenues by allowing you to access the photos even before you get home. While waiting in one of those really long lines for a ride, you could pull out your cellphone, scan the code, and look at all the photos taken of you that day. You could edit the list, send some of the photos to grandma, post some to facebook, or even order prints. Some of these could be chargeable events, some not. A key point is that the theme park can immediately establish a relationship for the photo service. People lose those cards, they lose interest, and the bills from their vacactions begin to trickle in.

Check this code out for a humble example of how the theme park might use a service like this.

Can you think of some additional ideas about how codes could be used in theme parks? I've got about 5 additional ideas, but I'm hoping y'all will tell me what they are!

Why making mobile barcodes for facebook is a good idea

2008-12-06T10:03:00.000-08:00

To try these codes out on your own phone, text the word "scan" to 70734, or navigate on your phone's browser to getscanlife.com.

I've recently become a big fan of facebook. I'm one of those old guys who became familiar only in the past 6 months. It's fun because one by one my friends from past lives are signing up and finding me. We don't always have a lot to say, but I am certain my contact information won't get lost when the next high school reunion roles around.

I think there is a match between facebook and mobile barcodes because it is not always easy to find people. I have a pretty common name, and people from high school may not know where I went to college, where I now live, what my married name might be, etc.

Imagine the high school reunion scenario where I've come across someone and I don't want to lose touch again: "Just look me up on facebook, John Smith." How would you even articulate which John Smith you are?

So check out this code. It's a web code that points to my facebook mobile web profile (btw, you can navigate to facebook on your mobile at m.facebook.com). Someone I want to reach me will scan this code, which reaches my profile site. If we are not already friends, then the person can add me as a friend. If we are already friends, then you go directly to my profile.

Here is the rub, and I'm hoping someone out there can help: It's kind of a pain to make: Here are the steps:

1. Get a friend to navigate to their own facebook page on the mobile, sign in, and then view your page. Write down the web address as it appears in your friend's mobile phone.

2. Navigate to scanlife (http://www.scanlife.com/) on a browser and set up a personal account. Create a web code and type in the URL you previously wrote down. Then publish the code.

It's step one that I think can improve. Problem is, there is a wireless web address that is different from the regular web address, and the profile address (when someone else navigates to your site) is different from the address when you yourself navigate to it. I've had a hard time predicting what the wireless web address will be.

There are applications that can be developed by people more adept than me. Seems like it would be easy for facebook or someone else to invent a utility for high school reunion goers to stay connected. Is this not a worthy cause?

Mobile Barcodes in retail

2008-12-04T06:20:00.001-08:00

Items for sale in retail stores tend to have 1-d barcodes on their packages. 1-d codes are those closely-packed vertical lines of varying thickness, so called because a scanner need only read horizontally. Traditionally they have been placed their for use at checkout, or for use by clerks managing inventory.

Some new phones and new applications have come along that extend the scanning experience to consumers. Armed with the right phone and the right software, consumers can use the codes in ways never intended by the manufacturer or the retailer.

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/stores_clueless_about_mobile_barcode_scanning_applications.php#comment-118883

The most obvious purpose is for a consumer to price compare an item on a shelf: scan the code on the shelf and find all the other physical and electronic merchants who might sell the item for less.

Services like this have been around for years but have been limited by the inconvenience of entering the barcode manually into a webform on your phone. It's an exciting demonstration of the way mobile barcode scanning can unlock new and unpredicted experiences.

So what's the downside here? First, at least in the US, 1-d barcodes can be read only by the most advanced phones, so the comparison shopping experience is available only to a small portion of consumers. Second, it creates a purpose for a barcode that never previously existed, and is unintended from the product manufacturer and the retailer's point of view. The article points out the awkward stance taken by several retailers.

I don't think it is appropriate or possible or healthy to prevent consumers from comparison shopping. But I also think retailers and manufacturers can and should claim a voice for themselves through this channel. IMHO, the way for them to accomplish this goal is to negotiate with the people making and distributing the scanning software.

Scanning software has two general functions: Turn the code symbol into a number, and do something with that number. retailers/manufacturers should interact with the scanning software guys to influence the second part of this equation. The influence could vary between providing the complete experience, to ensuring high placement in search results.

Physical World Connection and Precision

2008-12-03T07:30:00.000-08:00

In the last post I demonstrated how the Physical World Connection could enable a link between the paper version of the New York Times and the mobile version of the New York Times. But I argued that it would be even better if there were a connection between a specific component of the New York Times and a specific component of the mobile version of the New York Times.

A digression: Navigating a web experience on wireless devices sucks, even on the best phones. Lots of reasons for this, including small and non-querty keyboards, fat fingers on touch-screens, slow networks, small screens to look at, and frankly, poor design. There are steady improvements in all of these areas, but it will be a long time--maybe never--before navigation is really good. So, there is a A LOT of value in reaching the exact spot you want to without too much trouble.

So, why stop with the code on the front page of the New York Times? Why not have a code associated with every editorial item in the newspaper? (We'll get to advertising another time, but it is equally exciting). Remember, there is an infinite number of codes, therefore, incremental cost of each individual code created is negligible.

Take for instance an article today in the New York Times about the bailout of the big 3 auto makers. As I write this, the code presented here is a link to that particular article in the Times. I'm not affiliated with the Times, so I don't know if this link will gradually expire or change, or whatever, but if I were, I would be in a position to maintain this link forever.

With this code I've solved a potentially painful navigation problem, and I've also opened the door to lots of new opportunities. Now that the reader is on the mobile she can comment on what the bailout means to her and her family. The article could be longer or contain a set of links that would not have fit in the physical paper's space constraints. Lots of additional photos could be presented. Options to send the article to friends could be exploited.

At some point I'll talk about how codes can help sustain the whole print media concept. But I'll save that for another day.

Enhancing the connection between print and electronic media

2008-12-03T06:03:00.001-08:00

"Physical World Connection" is a term frequently used when describing the value of mobile barcodes. The idea is that anything in the physical world can be tagged and associated with information about it, probably stored in electronic form. The connector is the barcode because it provides the means of accessing precise information about a physical world thing.

Barcodes are uniquely positioned to be an effective physical world connector, primarily because there are so many of them. There is potentially infinite supply of codes; therefore, an infinite number of physical objects can be tagged.

This article reviewing the mobile versions of well known newspapers is an interesting example:

http://www.rcrwireless.com/article/20081202/WIRELESS/812029997/-1/ALL. I've created a code that links to the front page of the New York Times. Give it a scan!

Now imagine this code posted on the front page of today's NYT. I want to read it but I have to leave the physical paper behind for some reason. I scan the code and immediately have mobile access to much the same content.

Pretty good you say, but how can it be even better? I'll describe that in the next entry.

Publishing your own codes

2008-12-01T17:08:00.000-08:00

An important part of the codescanning experience is creating codes on your own and sharing them with your friends or using them in business. Today I want to focus on the "Contact" code. You can make one for free if you navigate to http://www.scanlife.com/ on your computer and sign up for a free personal account.

I've attached such a code with my own information. A lot of this is fictitious data, so you may get an odd experience if you click through too far on some of the links. This demo shows, however, that the experiences presented are real, and can be accessed with very little trouble with a level of flexibility that is hard to duplicate.

Consider the code presented here for me, Al Franks. Were you to select any of the categories presented, you would find that they are all operational (They just don't go anywhere, with the exception of the email al.franx@gmail.com, which I WOULD get).

Codes like this are ideal in at least two situations. First is in the signature line of an email message, where you normally present address info. Second is on the back of a business card.

While the utility of these use cases right now is high--i.e, easier and more accurate than entering a lot of data--it will increase even more over time. That's because users can actually save the information presented to their mobile "contacts" list. Imagine replacing the typing, the unreliable business card scan, or keeping (and probably losing if you are at all like me) the physical card forever. Right now, a handful of phones support the "saving" function, but this will increase steadily over the near future. I for one look forward to the time I can scan all the cards I get at a conference or tradeshow into my mobile, which then synchs to my primary contact list on my PC.

Surmounting the Codereader Download Problem

2008-11-27T17:22:00.000-08:00

So if you haven't downloaded the barcode reader to your phone yet, none of this blog makes any sense. A quick reminder that the way to download the scanlife reader is to browse to getscanlife.com on your mobile phone, or text the word "scan" to 70734.

But what if you HAVE gotten the software yourself already, and instead you want to convince someone else to get it? The easiest way is to send that person a text with a link in it. The best way to get that text message (if you don't have it right now), is to scan this text message code.

By the way, do you see that this is a special kind of code called an sms code? You could publish this code if you wanted anyone to text you if they scan this code. For example, you could make a sticker with a code like this and put it on property you might lose. Someone who found it could send you a text message and you could arrange to recover the lost property.

Mobile Shopping and Mobile Barcodes

2008-11-27T12:28:00.000-08:00

There's been a good amount of buzz around mobile shopping over the past year. Different shopping experiences have different requirements, however, and some are more advanced and capable than others.

Today I want to talk about experiences where you already have a relationship with the site. The two I've chosen are ebay and amazon. Lots of people have accounts at both of these retailers. Because of that, it's possible to have a satisfying user experience from beginning to end.

I point this out because lots of mobile shopping experiences are promising at the beginning of the experience but less promising as you approach checkout. You might be required to enter your credit card or a shipping address. These inconvenient tasks on a mobile and people still feel a little squeamish about entering this information from a security pov.

Hence the value of shopping experiences where you are already a member. All you have to do is enter your username and password and you are off and running. Check these two codes out to see for yourself!

Free Classifieds on your Mobile

2008-11-25T15:24:00.000-08:00

Craigs List is quite a phenomenon in the United States. It hasn't taken off on mobile devices, possibly because the company's mission does not encourage it.

There is a company that has taken the Free Classifieds concept to the mobile outside of the US and is now emerging in the US. It is designed to exist free and independent of the desktop. You should be able to navigate and post without reference to a desktop. In my own tier-2 city I am surprised at how robust the listings already are, with very little marketing to date. Check it out!

Barcodes Can Help You Find Mobile Content

2008-11-24T20:57:00.000-08:00

I recently came across this article: http://www.itworld.com/personal-tech/58090/cell-phone-apps-football-fans. It was a pretty good article and pointed out some quality mobile content.

There's a growing volume of mobile content out there, but it's still hard to find. And even if you know where to find it, it can be hard to navigate to on your phone.

For example, if I were to simply write here, "check out wap.nfl.com on your mobile, it's cool!," you would have a tricky journey ahead of you to actually get to that content. Contrast that experience with scanning the code above. You'd get there a lot faster.

2008-11-24T15:07:00.000-08:00

Every now and then I hope to present some ideas why regular people might want to publish their own barcodes. As a blogger I'm trying to get as many people as possible to read my stuff. Lots of factors go into driving traffic (believe me, I'm not very good at it yet!), but one factor could be to make it really easy for people to read it wherever they are. My original thought was, why not guide people towards the opportunity to read my blog from their cell phone?

The code presented here points to http://mobilebarcodesrock.blogspot.com/, the web address of my blog. Perfect! I could say to readers, "Look, if you want to extend your reading experience to the cellphone, just scan this here code from your computer screen, and immediately the mobile version of my blog will load to your cell phone. You could continue reading something you don't have time to read right now, or even better, you could bookmark this wireless web address on your phone, so that you could conveniently come back from your mobile again and again.

For this to take off even faster, blog hosting companies could enable widgets to appear in margins of blogs so that bloggers could choose to present them. In the meantime, bloggers can create their own by going to www.scanlife.com

The Importance of Ubiquity

2008-11-24T15:06:00.000-08:00

Ubiquity is an important consideration when considering a mobile barcode scanning solution. It is important to you, the consumer/user, because when you see a code on a piece of paper you want to be able to know that your phone can interpret it. It is important to the person or company putting the code out there because they want the confidence that their intended audience can interpret the code.

Ubiquity is a tricky beast because not all phones are alike. Some iconic phones, like the Apple iPhone for instance, can do some amazingly nifty things that most other phones can't. It needs applications--maybe even for barcodes--that can take advantage of its special capabilities. But when it comes to reach, it only accesses a small portion of the overall audience.

A solution that works "well enough" on as many phones as possible is vastly preferable. Take text messaging for instance. You need a data-capable phone, but this is a large and increasing number of handsets in the market. It is valuable mainly because you can assume your buddy can read the message you send, no matter what kind of phone and phone network it runs.
So as you choose to publish a code--whether you are an individual or a company--it's important to understand specifically how many handsets in your target audience codescanning works for. And you should also understand the definition of "works." Some companies will try to deceive you in this category.

Mobile Barcodes and the Longtail

2008-11-24T15:02:00.000-08:00

In mobile web content (probably web content in general) the "Long Tail" refers to the millions of places and experiences that are interesting and valuable to someone, perhaps extremely so, but may not get visited all that often. A problem is to figure out how to get to that content quickly and easily without too much trouble. Search is a pretty good solution in some cases. In some cases users rely on "favorites" to get back to a previously visited, but obscure, web or wap site. But in some cases these methods fall short.

I believe that mobile barcodes can enable the long tail in a significant way. Consider a favorite example of mine, the bus stop. Companies like Nextbus (http://www.nextbus.com/) have GPS-enabled buses, and have built algorithms that allow them to predict when the bus will actually be at a particular bus stop. One problem with the Nextbus solution is that in some cases--I would argue the most important cases--the excellent information the compan provides is not available to help a rider make a decision.

Here is where Nextbus is already really great:

I want to leave my flat or office at the right time before I start my commute so I look on the Nextbus site.

I am at a stop where I frequently travel and I have bookmarked the wireless web content for that particular route and stop on my mobile.

Wonderful, but what if I am at a particular bus stop in a town I've never been before, it's freezing out, I don't know if the once-an-hour bus has come already or not, and there is an alternative route I could commit to around the corner? You would want to access that long-tail content quickly and conveniently, wouldn't you?

I say conveniently because you can almost always access long-tail content from the web or mobile if you have time and patience, but there is a tipping point for most things where you make the decision whether it is worth it to start the discovery process.

So, how about posting mobile barcodes at every transit stop, for every route that passes through, that tell riders when the next bus is actually going to come (not, by contrast, when it is scheduled to come). I just now happen to have navigated the NextBus wireless website to Inbound Judah Street and Funston Ave on the mobile for San Francisco's "Muni" streetcar service. I chose this stop because I think there is a lot of traffic there a lot of the time (though I'm not certain whether it runs 24 hours--sorry!). The app requires quite a few layers of navigation to get to the right information, and if I knew what I was doing I would eventually get there on my mobile.

Think about it, though: Since I'm at a particular stop and want to go on a particular bus, It's predictable that I don't care much at all about the overall transit system: I just care about the particular bus and stop that will get ME where I want to go right now. The rest is useless to me at this moment. I'd like to go to the exact place to get the information I want. Fortunately, what information required in that situation is quite predictable, and is highly correlated with the place I'm standing at the particular moment. The code is a VERY convenient conduit into the precise information I want. Without the code I probably wouldn't even try to get the answer, and wouldn't even start the search process until I was good and frustrated.
Scan the code above to see how simple it is to get the precise bus-stop information I want:

Where will the Big Bang Come From?

2008-11-24T15:00:00.000-08:00

A lot of people think there needs to be a big bang to mobile barcode scanning going in the United States. When pressed, they say it will require large investments by a lot of companies.
This may be true, but where will such investment come from, and what will be the nature of the investement? I think there are a good number of companies making investments in mobile barcode scanning infrastructure. This includes development of codescanning readers, code creation interfaces, standards development, and so on. Although there is a lot of squabbling among them, this area seems to be coming along.

The concern seems to come from the lack of investment from phone companies. In Japan the phone companies invested in making handset readers on lots of phones, and then invested in consumer education. In the US I believe that phone companies will make the readers available widely, but they may not actively market the capability.

Concern also seems to come from lack of investment from brands. More brands (like Ralph Lauren, see http://about.ralphlauren.com/mobile/?camp=AVEA_Search_Google_BroadRLBrandMobile) could take an active role in education, and then use mobile barcodes in their campaigns. Unfortunately most brands are less intrepid, and will probably choose to wait until codescanning is well established. But when will that be?
The old reliable "last resort" is viral marketing. What can be done to convince consumers--especially kids, let's admit it--to think of codes as cool? I'm going to try and explore some ideas over the coming few posts and solicit some feedback. I welcome your ideas...

By the way, did you figure out that the code in the previous post was a link to ESPN's mobile website? Links to mobile content could be a good way to use mobile barcodes.

How to Get Started

2008-11-24T14:56:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm going to alienate some of you right now by recommending the Scanbuy reader. Other readers may be technically superior and other readers have some whiz-bang features. Remember, I'm US-centric here, and I want to be democratic. The Scanbuy reader works on more phones than other readers in the US. The big reason for this is that Scanbuy is getting the carriers involved. In the US carriers can prevent readers from working on a lot of phones. Scanbuy is working with the telecommunications carriers to work in as many places and on as many phones as possible.

I'm not saying this will alway be true, but it is definitely true right now. My goal is to get people comfortable using mobile barcodes right now. We'll let time take care of itself.
I'll probably venture to discuss other readers and technologies and capabilities from time to time and try to be fair about them. But just keep in mind: US-Centric, and Democratic.
If you want to scan codes, you need codescanning software. Some will say you don't need software on your handset--and they would be right--but the experience without the software is vastly inferior to the experience of handset based solutions.

To get the software for your phone, send a text message to "70734" with the word "scan" in the body. You can also point your phone's browser to "getscanlife.com." My experience is that the process to download the software from this point on is pretty straight forward.

If you aren't used to using applications on your phone, it's sometimes hard to find it. A lot of times it is under a category called "applications," or "my stuff" or something like that. In the list of presented logos you are probably looking for an image that looks a little bit like this symbol below.

Once you've finished the process, try this code out with your newly downloaded reader!

The Barcode Reading Experience

2008-11-24T14:55:00.000-08:00

I'm hoping this will end up being a place for people to experience barcode scanning. As such, I'll try to walk people through doing it. I apologize in advance because I will have a particularly American bias. I'll also have a particularly democratic bias. The experiences I convey will focus on what is possible on as many phones as possible. I'll rely on your feedback to understand how the experience works on your phone and your network.

Consumer Barcode Scanning is Coming of Age

2008-11-24T14:53:00.000-08:00

This blog is about mobile barcode scanning for consumers. I happen to be an American and the whole idea is pretty new to us. More and more of us are becoming aware that this phenomenon has been going for years in Japan and for a lesser time in Europe. There are some good things and some bad things about both of those. I'm going to try and get you to comment on them all and have a meaningful dialogue.