When collaborating with colleagues or co-workers, have you ever had someone take the credit for your great idea? Or maybe it’s been a customer, a client or your boss who borrowed your innovative notion. We’ve all been there at some point. If only there was a way to track ideas like we can track gas cylinders.
Enter Creative Barcode, which does just that, using bar codes to track ideas. The service allows users to create a unique QR code for project files and embed ownership, date, usage and a variety of information. Unforunately, the service is a little pricey for the average thinker at just over $300 for an account with five bar codes to start.
At that cost, I’m not in a hurry to sign up, but it still got me thinking. A couple of years ago, something like this would not have been feasible. But with widespread access to smart phones and apps that are capable of reading those black and white lines, bar codes increasingly offer accessibility and interaction between company and customer.
Like cylinder tracking, idea tracking is about protecting your assets. But in addition to laying claim (a simple copyright can do that for ideas), it takes tracking to an interactive level. The Creative Barcode site notes the added capability of licensing and sharing ideas as added benefits of the bar codes.
What if bar codes could make tracking cylinders more interactive? Maybe the customer only need scan the bar code to let you know when to a refill is impending. You could impress them with a quick follow-up call. Or maybe a scan of the bar code could give the customer detailed product information, MSDS, maybe a GAWDAwiki definition. What ways could you see customers using barcodes? How could you use it to enhance your service?
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This image may look something like a miniature crossword puzzle, but it is actually a bar code. What’s so special about this bar code is that you don’t need a scanner to read it. It’s known as a quick response bar code—QR code for short—and you can read it with most smart phones.
