4. :CueCat
:CueCat, yes it is written with a preceding colon, was a smart idea that was just terribly executed.
CueCat allowed for magazine readers to jump directly to a product or article online through a printed barcode, or Cue. Using the scanner, which was inexplicably shaped like a cat, users could scan a Cue to find the content they so sorely couldn't Google.
CueCat attached to your computer via USB or, if your 2000's computer didn't have the luxury of a USB port, through a PS/2 keyboard port. Think of it as a process similar to using a QR code, except instead of just being rather pointless, it was cumbersome to use too.
What really killed CueCat was privacy concerns over data collection. Its inventor, Digital Convergence, did nothing to help these woes by registering “digitaldemographics.com” and requiring users to list their home address when registering their CueCat.
After a data breach revealed over 100,000 CueCat user's identities, CueCat was practically done for.
Next: number three
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