One of the major hurdles at the moment is the user having to download an app to scan the codes. If the smart phone manufacturers would build the technology into the OS then the usage would increase considerably. The best possible applications are when you’re creating a “closed loop” solution including a native app and outdoor, magazine, POS advertising. Then you can use them for brilliant applications such as the shopping from the subway case study we’ve all seen from Asia.

In short, the way they are being used by marketers now is useless. I agreed with you here. But I wouldn’t go so far to say they only had one purpose.

Nice article on Google Music. Can you please add some links to make it easy to email or share? I’m sending this to my brother because he’s making an album independently but i’m just sending him an email with the URL.

Cheers, Dave.

I think you’ve nailed it there – if everyone focused on what they do best, we could have some pretty cool apps already. And we’re only 2 years into the whole tablet thing.

Beyond content APIs there’s a whole other world that opens up – Brand APIs are something I’ve been playing around with for a while that I think have massive potential for awesome.

But that’s another post.

The point is the approach and attitude major publishers have taken to innovating the experience of reading a newspaper.
They have kept it internal. Or, as your comment points out, limited it to a select group of “content partners”.

What I’m talking about is a change in attitude to content from publishers. An attitude where they focus on creating great content, and allow others to find the best ways to present and experience it.

In the process, they could also get a long way to solving the paywall problem – by finally having an experience that people will pay for (using their content).

Fairfax are a media company who makes money from selling content. If you are clever you can build your own apps that plug into the various public RSS feeds etc they have, but that may not be 100% legal.

What was your point again?

The value that these content creators bring to their audiences is how they can track how a story, people, places and events unfold over time. To be able to pick up an iPad app and understand a story in context beyond just todays news – how the story has developed, the interrelated people, places etc. Is what they can offer above and beyond your typical blogger.