PlusOne - Musings of a marketer

I was reading this article when point 9. jumped out at me (mainly because of the graphic!)

MediaPost Publications - 10 Things You Need to Know About Mobile Marketing -
9. There will be a lot of chatter in 2008 about the QR Code, the two-dimensional visual bar code made popular in Japan but years away from U.S. ubiquity. Phones scan a unique UPC-like stamp on any real world object to pull in more information or offers. Hold a phone up to a movie poster, and get a trailer, movie times or even tickets. The prospect of making the physical world this interactive (even transactive) is too delicious to ignore. But we need a standard.

This is something we have been trying to push with ad agencies for over two years here in Australia. They are excited about the prospects that scannable barcodes using mobile phones offers.

But the bit drawback, alluded to in the quote above, is that the mobile phone manufacturers have to see that tis is coming and include the scanner software as standard on mobile phones.

Failing this, those using the technology have the task of also providing ways for mobile users who want to scan something to get the software easily.

This sadly, places a rather large speed bump in the way of uptake my marketing media, for what is a really exciting tool with HUGE potential by suppliers like semacode and shotcodes.