Count Your Blessings

Inspired by the the red laser app, could we create a mobile self-checkout with an iPhone app?

With red laser you hold up your iPhone to a barcode (say you’re shopping for an expresso maker and you found one in Costco but you’re wondering if you can order somewhere else cheaper) and voila you get price comparisons. In the screen shots I used a book from our library’s new book shelf.

So what if you could create an app that did the same with your library barcodes? Find reviews of the book you’ve got in your hand? Check it out? (I know what about security, let’s ignore that for now). Sounds like a great idea for Hackfest at Access 2010 in Winnipeg.

Thanks to Mike Ellis at University of Manitoba for showing me red laser!