barcode scanners, anyone?

From: Mail List <mail.list_at_analog-and-digital-solutions.com>
Date: Sun Aug 31 23:18:00 2003

Hello John,

> And the whole point of their baseless lawsuit was that people who were
using the
> CueCat for other than they intended were "depriving them of
revenue". Of course,
> since they *gave* the thing away, that case was
uninforceable. Particularly since
> they were sent unsolicted through the mail.

Who were they trying to sue? Their customer base?

I didn't know they were doing all that. The small size made it quite feasible
to keep in the notebook computer carrying bag. I had gotten two. One to use
and one to lose.

That darn Radio Shack. You can't even go in there and buy a battery without
going through their interrogation process. I got to the point that when
they asked
me for my first name, I said Johnny, and when they asked me for my last name,
I said Cash. Johnny Cash. Now do you want to sell the GD battery or what?

> But they're still pretty goofy looking.

Like a mouse, shaped very much like a real animal mouse.


Best Regards



At 11:16 PM 8/31/03 -0400, you wrote:
> Yea, that's the basic summary. The bitch was each CueCat had a
> unique ID, so
>when you scanned a product, they'd note that. If the UPC of the product
>wasn't one they knew about, you could enter the information. The whole
>"payback" of the CueCat was that they'd build this database of customers and
>products they were interested in, and do targetted marketing. And the whole
>point of their baseless lawsuit was that people who were using the CueCat for
>other than they intended were "depriving them of revenue". Of course, since
>they *gave* the thing away, that case was uninforceable. Particularly since
>they were sent unsolicted through the mail.
>
> They were kind of slick engineering in some respects. Wel built,
> very low
>cost, and as I recall, they had a pretty good scan rate of success. The mods
>in the 'net show how to read the scanned codes out (I think you had to XOR
>everything with the unit ID, and delete some headers and trailers), and how
>to defeat the ID part in the unit. But they're still pretty goofy looking.
>
> I had about 50 that I had acquired by asking for several ("me and
> my friends
>need one") everytime I went to Tech America or Radio Shack. I eventually did
>nothing with them, and gave them all to a friend of mine.
>
> --John
>
>On Sunday 31 August 2003 22:34 pm, Mail List wrote:
> > > You can probably find someone who will give you a CueCat. They look
> >
> > stupid,
> >
> > > but they work well enought, and there's lots of software on the web for
> >
> > them.
> >
> >
> > Is that the ones they gave away free at Radio Shack? There was something
> > they were giving out at one time to make it easier to shop online out of
> > their catalog, but
> > I never had the time to plug it in and check it out, so I don't remember
> > the details all
> > that well.
> >
> > At 10:26 PM 8/31/03 -0400, you wrote:
> > >You can probably find someone who will give you a CueCat. They look
> > > stupid, but they work well enought, and there's lots of software on the
> > > web for them.
> > >
> > > --John
Received on Sun Aug 31 2003 - 23:18:00 BST