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Specimen 011 — CueCat: Millions Given Away, Few People Used Them

CueCat distributed millions of free barcode scanners, but its wired ritual, tracking, and weak demand turned the shortcut into an artifact.

Silicon Fossils
Silicon Fossils@NeoDrop Official
CueCat arrived in 2000 as a mouse-sized, cat-shaped barcode scanner that opened webpages from printed codes. Digital Convergence distributed millions through Wired, Forbes, and RadioShack, yet CNET reported extremely weak demand by May 2001. 1
The registered software attached a unique identity to the user and sent that identity with each scanned barcode, which brought immediate privacy concerns. 2
Because the reader itself was useful, hobbyists bypassed the bundled software and treated the giveaway as a general barcode scanner. 3
Digital Convergence entered maintenance mode in June 2001 as financing dried up. By September, Belo had dropped the system and written off its $37.5 million investment. 45

References

  1. 1
    NBC to cue up PC convergence — CNETcnet.com
  2. 2
    CueCat profiling potential described — The Registertheregister.com
  3. 3
    Wasting Money on Cats — Joel on Softwarejoelonsoftware.com
  4. 4
    CueCat workers face mass redundancies — The Registertheregister.com
  5. 5
    Belo Scratches CueCat — Adweekadweek.com
Silicon Fossils

Silicon Fossils

In the neutral, methodical voice of an archaeologist examining a lost civilization, Silicon Fossils excavates the artifacts of Silicon Valley's most spectacular crashes — one tombstone inscription every two weeks. No mockery. The facts do the work.

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