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The Physical Web

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Re: The Physical Web

#61

Post by x1798DE »

solipsism wrote: post #53
x1798DE wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is this similar to pet microchip implants? If there were a way to robustly put a QR code on my pet instead of using a microchip, I would - you'd be able to identify easily that the pet is tagged, and the readout devices would be more widespread. I also don't see at all how this is better than a QR code on a physical object, other than that it's invisible - which is itself not great, since unless you allow these t…

How is this similar to pet microchip implants In that it's a thing that's hidden in an object that you can scan for that identifies it and gives information about it. there's no built-in call to action. It's trivially and plainly better than a QR code on a physical object. Even if you did have to have a sticker on everything saying "I support Physical Web", the fact that I don't have to scan the sticker -- instead I…

I don't know that it's plainly better than a QR code, but your point is presumably well taken that if a broad area were saturated in ID signals that would be better than a single fixed QR code, once the user knows that the physical web is supported. I was thinking mainly of this in the context in which it was presented, which is being embedded in discrete objects like vending machines or the like, in which case the search space for a QR code is fairly small, and advertising that the physical web is supported could be replaced by existing technology.

I also don't see that it's "plainly better" to click on it through a phone. It depends on the different interfaces. How much do each of these things cost? If we're allowed to spend infinite money on any minor improvement, why not give everyone HUDs with high resolution cameras that can scan any QR code within line of sight? How much battery life are these scans taking? How much complexity do they add to the phone UI? What will the security issues be? I'm just not sold on the big benefits here.

Re: The Physical Web

#62

Post by skinnybatch »

fiatjaf wrote: post #56

Most normal people I see carrying a smartphone actually never use the browser. Never. I mean NEVER.

I would disagree. I know a lot of "normal people," and most use their browser to google or search using their preferred engine or a particular website, as well as load links from emails, or visit websites on the go.

Personally, I'm not sure that using a particular company or product's app really saves me any time. Half the time, the app takes forever to load or is so non-properly story-boarded, that I resort to google anyway. Maybe I'm the outlier.

Re: The Physical Web

#63

Post by skinnybatch »

cdnsteve wrote: post #14

Meh, we need AI to understand API interfaces automatically and can communicate together seamlessly, without any hard coding. That's when device to device integration gets REALLY interesting. Wait, isn't this just bluetooth + web?

I agree that the AI component is important to understand. Essentially we're talking about putting everything on a computer system, and installing the same OS on every "machine." One of the problems that I foresee mirrors that of Microsoft, in terms of monopoly, as well as the ongoing debate between PC vs Mac usage. Inevitably, the shared OS maker will have the monopoly, though others may try to dethrone it, or there will be a battle between two to three different systems each competing for market share, and proving almost incompatible with one another… until some Hackers develop a patch.

Re: The Physical Web

#64

Post by SiVal »

fiatjaf wrote: post #56

Most normal people I see carrying a smartphone actually never use the browser. Never. I mean NEVER.

I'd like to see some statistics on this. I think you're right, by the way, but I hope you're wrong, and either way, I'd like to know the real answer.

Re: The Physical Web

#65

Post by lttlrck »

stronglikedan wrote: post #57
CapitalistCartr wrote: post #39

" . . . a vending machine, a poster, a toy, a bus stop, a rental car, and not have to download an app first in order to use it." I can, and do, do that now. I don't need or use an app to interact with any of those things, and when I have been offered apps, they've been worse than useless. Seriously, worse than nothing, they've been annoying, harassing, clunky junk. I just want to be able to approach any of these thin…

> I don't need or use an app to interact with any of those things, and when I have been offered apps, they've been worse than useless. A store clerk recently invited me to download their app, and when I showed her that it requested every single permission, she was still baffled as to why I would want to cancel the download. > Why can I find a shelf stocker in Target and he can use his li'l belt computer to tell me wh…

The Lowes app has a similar feature - it really is useful.

Re: The Physical Web

#66

Post by digikata »

CapitalistCartr wrote: post #39

" . . . a vending machine, a poster, a toy, a bus stop, a rental car, and not have to download an app first in order to use it." I can, and do, do that now. I don't need or use an app to interact with any of those things, and when I have been offered apps, they've been worse than useless. Seriously, worse than nothing, they've been annoying, harassing, clunky junk. I just want to be able to approach any of these thin…

Would it work out for you if you just had to install one app for all of those uses - e.g. one generic "physical web" app?

Re: The Physical Web

#67

Post by MichaelGG »

mcrider wrote: post #33
cdnsteve wrote: post #14

Meh, we need AI to understand API interfaces automatically and can communicate together seamlessly, without any hard coding. That's when device to device integration gets REALLY interesting. Wait, isn't this just bluetooth + web?

We don't necessarily need AI, we just need APIs to be standardized so everything knows how to interface with them. This is IMO the killer app for the Semantic Web (I just wrote an article on this: https://medium.com/@mcriddy/semantic-web-design-92ef35f66c9f ).

How does that eliminate the need for AI? Having a "standardized" format doesn't fix much of anything, except a bit of search engine display logic. It does nothing of the sort of eliminating the need for render code per app/site. Maybe some actual, solid, examples of exactly what a "standard API" would accomplish would help explain.

Re: The Physical Web

#68

Post by troisx »

stronglikedan wrote: post #57
CapitalistCartr wrote: post #39

" . . . a vending machine, a poster, a toy, a bus stop, a rental car, and not have to download an app first in order to use it." I can, and do, do that now. I don't need or use an app to interact with any of those things, and when I have been offered apps, they've been worse than useless. Seriously, worse than nothing, they've been annoying, harassing, clunky junk. I just want to be able to approach any of these thin…

> I don't need or use an app to interact with any of those things, and when I have been offered apps, they've been worse than useless. A store clerk recently invited me to download their app, and when I showed her that it requested every single permission, she was still baffled as to why I would want to cancel the download. > Why can I find a shelf stocker in Target and he can use his li'l belt computer to tell me wh…

Home Depot is terrible at actually tracking their inventory. There app is useless when it tells you where the item is, only to find out that they actually don't have any in stock despite what their tracking system says.

I order easily 20x as many items from Amazon, and never had an email saying "oops, we actually don't have any in stock".

Re: The Physical Web

#69

Post by meemoo »

doctorfoo wrote: post #3

I kinda hoped the devices would actually serve the apps themselves. I guess a URL makes more sense though. But I wonder if it will lead to physical devices that give 404s when they are obsoleted. Anyway, this seems pretty exciting.

Jon Nordby demoed this idea with http://flowhub.io/ a couple of weeks ago: http://youtu.be/wCdKukf-dHI

1. Tap tablet to Raspberry Pi with NFC tag

2. Pi serves Flowhub IDE (noflo-ui) with the currently-running graph, ready for editing

This demo drops you directly into the source, but could easily have an interface layer first. It's just a link.

Re: The Physical Web

#70

Post by notatoad »

troisx wrote: post #68
stronglikedan wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't need or use an app to interact with any of those things, and when I have been offered apps, they've been worse than useless. A store clerk recently invited me to download their app, and when I showed her that it requested every single permission, she was still baffled as to why I would want to cancel the download. > Why can I find a shelf stocker in Target and he can use his li'l belt computer to tell me wh…

Home Depot is terrible at actually tracking their inventory. There app is useless when it tells you where the item is, only to find out that they actually don't have any in stock despite what their tracking system says. I order easily 20x as many items from Amazon, and never had an email saying "oops, we actually don't have any in stock".

And this is why the stores don't give out their actual inventory numbers to the public: because they can't accurately track those numbers. Things get stolen, lost in storage, and moved off their shelf to promotional displays.
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