Stop Us If You've Heard This One: Company 'Invents' Grocery Barcode Scanner
from the originality dept
Yet another sign that we might be in the midst of another bubble is the resurrection of failed ideas from the last bubble. This time around, it's the barcode scanner that you use to build a grocery list. It's "set to revolutionize your grocery shopping experience," cries the headline on CrunchGear, just like the similar device Philips announced in 2001, a Bluetooth version announced in 2005, or the ever-popular "internet fridge" with its own built-in barcode scanner. Perhaps the writers over at CrunchGear are too young to remember the venerable CueCat, the gold standard for barcode-scanning failure -- and which, of course, can be hacked to serve as a grocery scanner as well. This technology has existing for a long time, and that's not what's kept it from succeeding. It's the fact that most of these services don't provide much more utility for most people than a pen and notepad. But perhaps that's where Ikan's different, since it also lets you know if a scanned item's packaging is recyclable, and which bin to put it in. Its founders claim on the company's site that they "were uninformed about the correct methods of disposing the different types of rubbish" they generated from their grocery shopping. So, basically, they couldn't figure out that plastics go in the bin for plastics, and metals in the bin for metals. Perhaps their penchant for recycling, but their apparent incompetence at it, lead them to bring the grocery scanner back for another failure.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.
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Re:
If you had this new scanner you would have known which recycling bin to throw your CueCat in instead of throwing it in the trash! Earth-hater!
On a more serious note, this is pointless.
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Hope you put it in the correct recycling bin.
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Single-stream recycling
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Barcode Scanners
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I almost bought a CueCat at a yardsale last year - some jerk scooped it up before I made up my mind to buy it, though. I really wanted one, because I've heard of some pretty interesting hacks for them.
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Useful?
Pharmacies do this with prescriptions, why not food items with grocery stores?
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THINK OF THE CHILDREN! THE REALLY REALLY FAT CHILDREN!
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Even if you go to the store - it would help generate a list for you. Couple it with a recipe database and well - if it was done right, I think it might be a good idea, actually.
And I'm not sure I agree with the above - it might actually be better to have a 'non-emotional' list generated - how many times do people impulse buy junk at the store because they are hungry when they shop?
I don't consider the grocery store exercise, it's just a chore. Actually, I wish I had that extra hour per week to do something productive. But then, I try to not sit in from of the TV or Computer as a matter of habit to begin with.
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Nothing against a consumer-culture overall seeing as how if our economy fails, every country on the planet will fall right with us.....because we are the ones buying most of their goods.
I personally would love to see a barcode scanner on a fridge and a recipe ingredients list generator tied into a central computer that could then sync with a PDA/phone; add that to an online database of current stock in stores, and maybe their prices as well, and you have a damn good idea. It surely would make it a lot easier for me seeing as how I cook exotic dishes all the time and have been the victim of memory loss while at the store.
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Now that'd be useful.
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What about the produce?
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Re: What about the produce?
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I'd Like Something Like This
The real time saver, though, will be when the shopping cart can act as the scanner for items put into it, and then dump the data at the checkout.
The ultimate solution will be RFID, but so many Luddites are slowing adoption of this great technology with fears of being tracked. Hey, if someone is really interested in what brand of baked beans or soup I buy, more power to them.
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Re: I'd Like Something Like This
Albertson's tried hand held scanners with a holster for it on the cart. The idea was that you scan as you go and download at checkout. It never worked out, as; it really wasn't all that much faster at checkout, & most people resisted. Between that and really forcing you to use the self-check stands by never having more than one cashier, they nearly went out of business. They did get so weak that they were bought, but the sign stayed the same. I never go there, I travel past it a couple more miles to the Kroger's which still has checkers and better prices as well.
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Re: I'd Like Something Like This
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I don't understand....
Besides, it seems to me like this device hugely complicates shopping, not simplifies it... I mean, scan a bunch of garbage, go to your computer, edit the list, print it out, remember to take list to store. Hell, half the time I do the shopping on my way back from somewhere, on the spur of the moment, without a grocery list.
Then again, I don't have a microwave or a TV in my house, so maybe I'm actually a Luddite. OTOH, with a dozen computers, maybe not...
Chris.
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It could be nice.
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Chris M. has the right take.
Geek momentum pushes product development in strange directions sometimes. Perhaps we need to modify the Field of Dreams saying..."If you build it, they may well say 'Why the hell would I use this??'"
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A self standing Wifi scanner to be placed next to where you discard products.
No Sync. No missing scanner. And they claim to have a Voice Recogn sys to deal with non barcoded items.
If they make it happens it could do to the grocery shopping what IPOD did to music.
In fact Ipod did not have different features from the Rio players. Just better capacity and UI.
And they revolucionize the music industry...
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Read Between The LInes
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