September 7th, 2006
Scary Tech: bCode SMS Service Lets You Buy a Friend a Beer via Cell Phone
By Alice Hill
RealTechNews
Remember when paying for things by cell phone would be all the rage? Neither do we, but you can bet that people are trying hard to find a way to make the technology catch on. A company in Australia called bCode is hoping that B or Beer is the killer app. The idea is that you can text a friend a free beer in a participating pub, which sounds fine at first, but then quickly sounds like one big headache - for the pub owner who has to install the special scanning equipment, to the poor phone owner who has to enter their friend’s phone number, text in a crazy bCode and then pay lord knows what for the novelty. Worst of all, you can’t buy a stranger a drink without asking for his or her number and looking like a fool, so the element of surprise is limited only to the people you know - an unfortunate flaw in the thinking.
And then see if you can follow this “easy” drink redemption process (Note: the alarming use of exclamation points is from their exact promo text):
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Step One: Getting a bCODE is easy!
bCODE’s are just SMS messages. You can save them on your mobile so it’s easy to find when you need them. If you delete it, don’t stress! Whoever bought the drinks can send a SMS to 04 2126 1626 (at your normal txt rate) and we’ll resend the bCODE’s for free.
Step Two: Using a bCODE is even easier!
So now you want your drink! Open the bCODE message so that it’s visible on your mobile and turn your backlight on. Press your mobile’s screen right up against the scan plate and hold it steady – don’t hold back, you won’t break anything! Once your mobile is touching the scan plate, the bCODE Reader will do its thing. It’s really quick: you’ll hear a ‘beep’ and it’s finished. That’s it: Open bCODE, Backlight On, Press, Beep…!
Couldn’t be any easier.
Step Three: Interactive Magic!
The bCODE Reader screen will then display your bCODE drink to you and the bartender, along with any messages or other fun stuff associated with your bCODE. That’s about it – the bartender will bring your drink and you can get on with the evening! Bottoms up! Source: bCode via TechDirt
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They Say: “It’s so easy we can’t figure out why nobody did this before.”We Say: Uh….actually it’s not all that easy at all. Or should that be, It’s not that easy at all!!1!! Nice try though, mates.
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Smelly says:
Holy crap, what a bad concept!
Besides the obvious, how could their reader perform OCR on who knows how many fonts that cell phones could use, varying line widths due to screens, etc?
It’d be cooler to text the name of the bar you’re at and describe a person sitting nearby to give a drink to for free, anonymously.
*shakes fist at everyone else* Patent pending!
September 7th, 2006 at 12:41 pm
Charlie says:
Hey Smelly, OCRing different fonts is not that hard at all, as long as the phone user hasn’t set something seriously weird as their text message font. But really, the whole scanning thing is overblown. Why require the pub to buy all that nasty, expensive hardware just to read what is probably a five or six character code? Take 28 numbers + 10 letters x 6 of them in a code and you get over 2 billion combinations - enough to guarantee uniqueness and ward off guessers. Just send the recipient a message with a 6 letter code and have the publican punch that into a POS machine to validate. No expensive scanner, no complex “turn on your backlight and hold steady”.
Concept still sucks though for all the reasons mentioned in the article…
September 7th, 2006 at 3:59 pm
Gizmodo says:
bCODE SMS Drink Sending: Good Idea, Poor Execution
bCODE is a new SMS service that allows you to buy drinks for a friend via a SMS or text message. It’s a pretty awesome idea, but there are some major flaws. First and foremost, the service costs a ton,…
September 8th, 2006 at 9:11 am
Tech Gadgets says:
bCODE SMS Drink Sending: Good Idea, Poor Execution
bCODE is a new SMS service that allows you to buy drinks for a friend via a SMS or text message. It’s
September 8th, 2006 at 10:53 am
Tarzan says:
Tarzan says it’s still easier to pick up on women when their boyfriend is in the bathroom.
September 8th, 2006 at 12:12 pm
jOjO says:
I think its good concept… If they offer more then beer on the site It could be fun. Sure it’s gimmicky but a fun way to send bottle of wine or a cocktail to a friend for a special occasion. Even better if they are having a birthday party or some other kind of event at one of the venues and you cant make it. This whole anonymous thing? Who knows why anyone would want to do that?
September 10th, 2006 at 4:18 pm
Gizmodo Japan（ギズモード・ジャパン） says:
「bCODE」：携帯を通じて飲み物をおごるサービス
目的と手段に矛盾が生じている気がします。 「bCODE」はユニークな携帯用…
September 27th, 2006 at 7:02 pm
Phil says:
my condolences to the venture capital company who decided to invest 5 million in this idea…
Apart from the fact that the cost of installing hardware, training staff and educating consumers is prohibitive, why on earth would you shout someone a drink at another pub when you are most likely doing rounds with your mates…
Whoever came up with this idea, Il shout you a beer, soon you wont be able to afford it yourself…
February 12th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
yourshop.cc says:
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December 14th, 2008 at 11:04 pm