http://smstextnews.disqus.com/Daily news and opinion for 250,000 industry executives and mobile fanaticsenFri, 02 May 2008 04:41:31 -0000http://www.smstextnews.com/2008/05/w-41_wearable_connectivity_clothing_thats_quite_mobile-geeky.html#comment-406161It's a nice idea, and I've seen codes printed on T-Shirts before. The problem with this is that it uses <a href="http://www.shotcode.com/" rel="nofollow">ShotCode</a> which is a closed standard. Only Shotcode can make these circular barcodes. Only they can write decoders for them. The information that is encoded in a ShotCode has to be registered with ShotCode first. In other words, you're completely dependent on one company for EVERYTHING.<br><br>If they go tits-up or start charging or refuse to make a decoder for your phone or generally go bad - you're out of luck.<br><br>Contrast this with <a href="http://shkspr.mobi/qr.php" rel="nofollow">QR Codes</a> - they're an open standard. Anyone can write a coder or decoder. In fact, Google have an <a href="http://code.google.com/p/zxing/" rel="nofollow">open source reader</a> for Android.<br><br>They can contain any information - URL, VCARD, Phone numbers, plain text - and don't require a working Internet connection to get the information.<br><br>Furthermore, they're readable by just about any phone - not just Nokias.<br><br>Basically, this is a cool idea but make sure you use an open standard like QR Codes to ensure that the maximum number of people can access your information.TerenceEdenFri, 02 May 2008 04:41:31 -0000