Shotcode 2.0, exit ShotCode

Written on December 18, 2007 – 12:28 pm
Guest blogger, sharing views on The Next Web

Remember ShotCode, those alienesque barcodes? Through a small program on your mobile phone, the mobile phone is “transformed” in a scanner. After taking a picture with your phone’s cam of the ShotCode, the phone opens its browser and connects with the right URL (for earlier coverage, see Springwise).

While the rest of us was busy developing bluetooth, triangulated and gps based solutions, Shotcode was further developing their service. The website got a Web2.0-style makeover (you can’t have a credible website without bright green and pink colours these days), campaigns where run for (amongst others) Nokia, Coca Cola, XBox and Jameson, the ShotCode system got a limited API and a new pricing plan was developed (no more free ShotCodes). Also, a new free service is being developed at Shotcode.org (subscribe to stay in touch). And, of course, all of this was recorded on the ShotCode blog.

Although I really admire both Dennisses because of their entrepreneurship and nifty concept, I really fear version 2.0 is the last one. Considering all developments in the area of GPS/bluetooth/triangulated social networks and the fact that ShotCode is a quite complicated service (install software first and then try to manage taking a decent picture), I really wouldn’t want to be in the developers’ shoes.

The first major campaign by ShotCode, a game for Dutch brewery Heineken, which asked participants to visit different bars with shotcodes, demonstrated how difficult the concept is: a total of 8 people completed the game.

The future is in GPS/bluetooth/triangulated services. And although I really really liked ShotCode: exit Shotcode

This is a guest post by consumer, marketeer and storyteller Polle de Maagt

I hope you like that post!

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About the author: This article is written by a rather interesting person who was kind enough to share his/ her views on the next web.

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9 comments/trackbacks to “Shotcode 2.0, exit ShotCode”

Jan 26, 2008: Exit ShotCode? Starbucks and Apple to the rescue!
[...] December 18, Dutch social media expert Polle de Maagt claimed in a guest post on this blog that mobile barcode concept ShotCode was soon-to-be history. The future is in [...]
Feb 11, 2008: Mobile barcoding bridging the gap between Adwords and print ads
[...] written quite a lot about it. In December 2007, guest blogger Polle de Maagt predicted that ShotCodes would join the deadpool pretty soon, we’ve published an outline of the mobile barcoding market and wrote about a [...]

By Robert Gaal on Dec 18, 2007

When this first launched I was afraid it would never get passed the cool-marketing-tool phase. Downloading a tool to hyperlink just is to high a threshold. I don’t really think several years of development has changed the way consumers look at this product.

But all the best to the founders. I think they build some great technology and stuck by there vision. That alone deserves some respect. Maybe going the open-source route (monetizing support or consultancy, and getting the community behind you) will make this something truely great after all.

[Reply]
By Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten on Dec 18, 2007

I once wrote a blogpost about this and got some interesting feedback from one of the Dennisses. I questioned the use of this technology and he left a few comments with his views on the subject. Check it out: http://bomega.com/2006/10/17/s.....he-needle/

[Reply]
By Dave on Dec 18, 2007

I thought at the time it could eliminate jotting down url’s at conferences etc, just snap a picture and store it for later use. But if it involves a monthly pricing plans for the companies, installing software on phones… nah… not really interesting anymore.

Time for a built-in solution, without the fees, that just snaps a picture and stores it in text on the phone. Or am I asking for OCR on a phone now ;-) ?

[Reply]
By Peter Robinett on Dec 18, 2007

Dave, why not? I don’t know for sure, but I imagine it’s not too hard these days to do OCR for the phone, either by sending the image to a remote server for OCR processing or by doing the processing on the phone.

[Reply]
By Ørv on Dec 18, 2007

Augmented reality has already developed past this stage yet this hasn’t been made applicable in the real world yet. This is a great first step!

[Reply]
By adriaan verstijnen on Jan 22, 2008

Oh you guys are sooo Dutch :-)

[Reply]
By Aldo on Jan 26, 2008

The technology itself already excists for several years, in Japan it is the # one mobile tool today and it is called a QR code. Try for instance the kaywa reader to feed your mobile with blogging content.

http://www.realvine.nl/2008/01.....-internet/

[Reply]

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