4 ms·

They could add the CueCat to their list. I seem to remember that Wired got all excited about it at the time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CueCat https://en.wi

They could add the CueCat to their list. I seem to remember that Wired got all excited about it at the time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CueCat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CueCat

duxup 5y ago
That was a neat one. I never thought it would go anywhere because who would buy hardware just for that? But I did kinda admire that they tried. One of those 'oh man great idea ... oh no I don't think it will ever work' kinda situations. It was very much a fun early mass consumer days of the internet kinda shot in the dark / fun to me.
- monkpit 5y ago
  The Dallas Morning News sent them to subscribers with their Sunday paper back when this was a thing, because they realized nobody would buy one. It still failed miserably.
- tablespoon 5y ago
  > I never thought it would go anywhere because who would buy hardware just for that? But I did kinda admire that they tried. I think they gave away the readers for free. I had one at one point, and I certainly wouldn't have paid a penny for it. I think they were also the basis for quite a few barcode-based hobbyist projects at the time.
  - stoolpigeon 5y ago
    Yes. I still have mine and I didn't pay for it. I don't remember how/where I got it but it was free to me.
- sophacles 5y ago
  In retrospect I see it as ahead of it's time. The idea of "place a computer readable label on things to send you to a special website (etc)" is still alive and used today in the form of QR codes. The hardware problem ended up solved by convincing everyone to carry a computer in their pocket and image recognition, but the central idea is pretty much unchanged.
  - duxup 5y ago
    That's a good observation. The custom hardware solution as the smartphone has enabled so much.
MattGrommes 5y ago
I always appreciated CueCat because years after they failed I bought one on ebay for $2 and used it as a barcode scanner to categorize all my books. Worked great for that. :)
xkeysc0re 5y ago
I got one! It still works pretty good as a standard bar code reader. I have it integrated into my library cataloguing software
ceautery 5y ago
Is this the one by the Cyber Ninjas guy?
- BigGreenTurtle 5y ago
  He's not the cyber ninjas guy, but he is involved in the big lie: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_Hutton_Pulitzer#Election_audit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_Hutton_Pulitzer#Election_aud...
cyansmoker 5y ago
If you ever find one, here is how to make it work properly (but why would you need it?): http://zteo.com/posts/sunday-hacking-cuecat-delicious-library/ http://zteo.com/posts/sunday-hacking-cuecat-delicious-librar...
takeda 5y ago
Looks like the creator is one that brought idea to look for bamboo fibers in 2020 ballots. One genius idea after another.

They could add the CueCat to their list. I seem to remember that Wired got all excited about it at the time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CueCat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CueCat

duxup 5y ago

That was a neat one. I never thought it would go anywhere because who would buy hardware just for that? But I did kinda admire that they tried. One of those 'oh man great idea ... oh no I don't think it will ever work' kinda situations. It was very much a fun early mass consumer days of the internet kinda shot in the dark / fun to me.

monkpit 5y ago
The Dallas Morning News sent them to subscribers with their Sunday paper back when this was a thing, because they realized nobody would buy one. It still failed miserably.
tablespoon 5y ago
> I never thought it would go anywhere because who would buy hardware just for that? But I did kinda admire that they tried. I think they gave away the readers for free. I had one at one point, and I certainly wouldn't have paid a penny for it. I think they were also the basis for quite a few barcode-based hobbyist projects at the time.
- stoolpigeon 5y ago
  Yes. I still have mine and I didn't pay for it. I don't remember how/where I got it but it was free to me.
sophacles 5y ago
In retrospect I see it as ahead of it's time. The idea of "place a computer readable label on things to send you to a special website (etc)" is still alive and used today in the form of QR codes. The hardware problem ended up solved by convincing everyone to carry a computer in their pocket and image recognition, but the central idea is pretty much unchanged.
- duxup 5y ago
  That's a good observation. The custom hardware solution as the smartphone has enabled so much.

MattGrommes 5y ago

I always appreciated CueCat because years after they failed I bought one on ebay for $2 and used it as a barcode scanner to categorize all my books. Worked great for that. :)

xkeysc0re 5y ago

I got one! It still works pretty good as a standard bar code reader. I have it integrated into my library cataloguing software

ceautery 5y ago

Is this the one by the Cyber Ninjas guy?

BigGreenTurtle 5y ago
He's not the cyber ninjas guy, but he is involved in the big lie: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_Hutton_Pulitzer#Election_audit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_Hutton_Pulitzer#Election_aud...

cyansmoker 5y ago

If you ever find one, here is how to make it work properly (but why would you need it?): http://zteo.com/posts/sunday-hacking-cuecat-delicious-library/ http://zteo.com/posts/sunday-hacking-cuecat-delicious-librar...

takeda 5y ago

Looks like the creator is one that brought idea to look for bamboo fibers in 2020 ballots. One genius idea after another.