NeoMedia Technologies, Inc (NEOM)

[srowen]

I think you'd have to explain what you mean by 'hacked' -- it is just a bit of data; there is nothing to hack into or not hack into. Are you able to expand on this?

Give me one application that is possible with indirect encoding that is not, with direct encoding. Hint: there isn't one, because these are just different ways to deliver data.

I'll help: the advantage of an indirect code is that it only encodes a small ID. The code is simpler, and therefore easier to decode on cameras with poor hardware. I am making the point that cameras are better now, meaning this advantage is disappearing.

What's the downside? My code only works if the service provider is up and responds. My code only makes sense to that company's software. I have to pay. I rely on a third party for encoding.

With a QR Code, none of this is true. There is no dependency on a third party for decoding or encoding. It is free. It is read by anybody's QR Code reader. You can think what you like about the tradeoff here... but which do you think the world is going to pick? Let me refine that: look around, which format do you actually see being used out there?

Clearly, even companies employing an indirect model have made a bit of money, no doubt. I see lurid optimism on this board that this is somehow the wave of the future. This flavor of barcodes simply is not, IMHO.

You can disagree, but I am offering a serious and informed opinion from the outside, to people I see pouring hours and dollars and enthusiasm into a company over stories promulgated by a certain group of cheerleaders, based on information that I think is flatly false, or at best misleading. You decide.