2d barcodes have occupied the same space in Europe and America for a long time now – “not quite there yet”. There has been a constant lack of consumer acceptance of barcodes, which many companies have tried to address (with varying degrees of success). And a new attempt has just been launched by California company Big Fun! Inc – its new website “2DCodeMe” wants to get consumers interested in barcodes by presenting them in as friendly, informative and useful a manner as is possible.
What’s the service?
The 2DCodeMe site doubles as a place for both creating and learning about barcodes. All the information about barcodes is presented in a series of fairly cheeky videos (as opposed to “educational” videos which can often be very dry). The site allows people to generate their own codes that link to whatever they want – these codes are also set up to be printed on a variety of products including t-shirts, business cards, footwear and temporary tatoos.
Based on the most widely accepted 2d code standards, QR Code and DataMatrix, Big Fun! Inc. also provides a code reader – though it’s only available for iPhone at the moment.
What we think?
It’s hardly the most original idea in the world, but it’s being done with such tongue-in-cheek enthusiasm that it’s hard to ignore.
