CogDog Gets Coded!
OK, I'd like everybody who is getting all excited about QR codes to go out and look up the CueCat (see also this). Thank you. End of rant. Leonard Low, Mobile Learning, November 1, 2007. [Link] [Tags: Wikipedia] [Previous][Next]Comments
Re: CogDog Gets Coded!
Hah, I had long forgotten the CueCat. But the problem with that was perhaps its device dependence. Since we all (or many of us, I know you dont) carry cell phones, many of them equipped with cameras, we have the technology at hand. And the info can come nack to your phone, not the computer. I do see potential in being able to be "out" in the realworld, and get connected to net info.
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Re: CogDog Gets Coded!
Just look to Japan and you will see how important QR Codes have become;) [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]
Re: CogDog Gets Coded!
QR Code and CueCat are apples and oranges Stephen.
QR Code is used on mobile devices (but can also be used via a webcam/PC). CueCat only works tethered to a PC (which is stupid, because it's not hard to type in a URL on a PC. It's hard on a mobile phone though).
QR Code works on any camera phone running QR Code software. It does not need any extra hardware. CueCat needs a special laser scanner to read barcodes (which is stupid, because nobody wants to shell out for a large, goofy-looking peripheral).
QR Code is free (as in beer, and speech). CueCat is proprietary.
QR Code is a 2D barcode, with the ability to store over 4000 bytes of information. CueCat is a 1D barcode, with the ability to store a few dozen characters - 100 times less capacity.
QR Code is used by tens of millions of consumers in Japan. It is proven technology. CueCat is used by nobody in their right mind. As far as I can tell, it is useless technology.
QR Code is being trialled by Telstra, Australia's biggest mobile telecommunications provider and is already on Nokia N-series handsets, as well as being investigated by Microsoft as a potential standard integrating with Windows Live. CueCat isn't going anywhere, and I don't see it going anywhere.
Apples and oranges Stephen. Completely different paradigms. [Comment]
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Re: CogDog Gets Coded!
http://mlearning.edublogs.org/2007/11/02/qr-code-hits-mainstream-australia/ [Comment] [Permalink] [Previous][Next]
Re: CogDog Gets Coded!
Free as in beer maybe. But...
"QR Code is open in the sense that the specification of QR Code is disclosed and that the patent right owned by Denso Wave is not exercised."-from the Denso Wave website. The Japanese version of that site goes on to state, however, that the term QR Code itself is trademarked and that any publication or website using it must also include text that says "QR code is trademarked by Denso Wave, inc.".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_Code [Comment]
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Re: CogDog Gets Coded!
...which is why the Telstra trial doesn't refer to "QR Code," at all - but instead calls them "mobile codes" - as do Nokia. The trademark only covers the expression, not the application of the technology!
Other companies investigating the use of QR Codes use other alternative names, but the distinctive appearance of QR Codes means that it doesn't matter what you call them - if you see one, you'll know what to do with it. :) [Comment]
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Re: CogDog Gets Coded!
P.S. I should add that the use of QR Code reader software in mobile phones was squarely aimed at people just like you, Stephen. I'm aware that you haven't yet bought a mobile because (among other reasons) you dislike the small screens and keypads of many modern mobile phones. Well, QR Code technology was implemented in mobiles so that it wouldn't be necessary to use the keypad for data input at all.
Wouldn't you say that's better than having to labouriously type characters into your phone via the keypad?
And doesn't it then provide opportunities to instantly and conveniently link the physical world, anywhere, anytime, with digital (online) learning resources, activities, experiences, peers and mentors? [Comment]
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