What ever happened to Semacode?
[caption id="attachment_454" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="sherwinpedia.com in semacode"][/caption] Didn't hear about them for awhile, but they're trying to make a comeback riding on Facebook. I remember when I first came across Semacode a few years back I thought it was an awesome idea. In fact, I thought it was so awesome that I started tagging things around the house with Semacode tags. The problem with Semacode (I think) is that it was just too advanced for it's time. In fact, it's a great idea. In Japan and I think even in Korea they use something similar called a QR code, and it's everywhere. It works somewhat like a Semacode, except that you can use it to store a variety of information, not just URLs. But then, Japan and Korea are just that. They're Japan and Korea. Technologically they're an exception to the rule because they're just so ahead of everyone else. [caption id="attachment_456" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="sherwinpedia.com in QR Code"][/caption] Why I say it was too advanced for the rest of us: It came out at a time when handset based software was not as widespread, and easy to install as now with the iPhone and Android OS. It came out at a time when mobile bandwidth was still not cheap enough for the general populace to want to load huge websites. It came at a time when websites were less mobile conscious. And then it was kind of forgotten. What a shame. When it came out I remember seeing people print codes on T shirts and mow them on to cornfields. There were evangelists out there. I'm sure if they pushed it the right way, Semacode still has a winner on their hands. It's a bridge that lets people map the virtual over the physical. I imagine that in many circumstances it really isn't necessary to give people a Semacode tag. This site for instance; sherwinpedia.com is not something terribly long or difficult to remember. Giving someone a name card only with a Semacode tag would really be quite impractical because the recepient would have to scan it (probably with their mobile) and then extract the URL and type it in. At a glance, or even a long hard stare you'd never know what goes on inside a Semacode unless you scan it. Therein lies it's power and quite possibly it's future undoing. Early on, the novelty of getting a URL by scanning a Semacode will be a novel, interesting idea. But in time, I'm sure spammers will start to find their way with them, and then everyone will start to be a little more careful. Still, it's effective because it's so easy to make one, and it's a great way to compress long / confusing URLs. I can see why they've chosen Facebook as an application in point, because I can never remember my profile URL. Applied properly, there is so much potential for fun stuff like building mixed reality games around Semacodes. I can see this used with CipherCities at some stage, for marketing, or even more interestingly, for mixed reality grafitti. I'd really like to see this technology being used subversively. If you want to make your own URL based sema/QRcodes: go here
