CueCat, Version Two?

from the oddly-complicated dept

Remember the CueCat? The absolutely useless magazine barcode scanner that the magazine industry thought was the next killer app for the web? The product made sense from a magazine industry standpoint, but no one ever stopped to think why any actual magazine reader would ever want to go through the cumbersome process of hooking up a special scanner to a computer, reading their magazines next to the computer, being so interested in an advertisement that you wanted to scan it, and then happily looking at another ad for the same product online. Over at TheFeature I've written up a longer piece wondering if a new effort by the magazine industry in Europe is the second coming of the CueCat. It's yet another long, unclear process to somehow get you to look at more magazine advertising -- without ever explaining why anyone would want to do this. In this case, the convoluted process is that someone, somehow (they suggest via friend, radio or billboard) is given a keyword. For some, totally unclear reason, the person then takes that keyword and sends it via SMS to a special number. At the other end, that service (which, apparently you've already signed up for, because it has your email address), sees what keyword you've sent in, and sends you an email (not to your phone) with a special link to an online magazine, formatted using one of those funky online magazine products that lets you "flip" the pages like a paper magazine. So, you get a keyword, send in a text message, and the next time you're at your computer you'll have a random email message telling you to go a magazine's website. And, in some cases, they expect you to pay for this as well. Did the people creating this ever stop to ask "why?" anyone would ever do this?
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    jeff, 9 Jun 2005 @ 4:53pm

    No Subject Given

    Uh, isn't this called "spam mail"? (but with a user having to initiate the spam mail).
    Yeah, that'll work....

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Tim, 10 Jun 2005 @ 2:34am

      Re: No Subject Given

      Not really, if you're considering either UCE or UBE to be reasonable definitions of "spam mail" (I go with the latter). It may, of course, be junk to a particular viewer; it may be susceptible to abuse causing it to have bulk and/or unsolicited nature if you (somehow) spray the mails off to third-party recipients who didn't ask for them.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      knight37, 14 Jun 2005 @ 10:53am

      I don't like spam!

      Sshh, dear, don't cause a fuss. I'll have your spam. I love it. I'm having spam spam spam spam spam spam spam beaked beans spam spam spam and spam!

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Vajrang, 10 Jun 2005 @ 7:54am

    No Subject Given

    For a detailed critique of the old CueCat, see http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000037.html

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    ian, 12 Jun 2005 @ 12:48pm

    Two million CueCats at $0.30/each

    as reported by Boing Boing, and still clueless at that price?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    martyMAC, 20 Jul 2005 @ 4:50pm

    PaperClick vs. Cue Cat

    Cue Cat was a long time a go. The same company who has changed it's name now DOES have the killer app.

    www.neom.com / www.paperclick.com

    Going to be HUGE.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.