Meshtag
Dev tools
link sharing
SHOW HN2015
270points
134comments
#59of 2,565 in 2015
Top 3%of 2015 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
14 positive, 35 neutral or asking, 5 mixed, 34 critical, out of 88 comments about the project. Thread score -0.19.
Idea: 9 for, 28 againstDesign: 2 for, 2 againstExecution: 2 for, 2 againstPricing: 0 for, 1 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Clever, prettier than QR codes, fun for graffiti and scavenger hunts
From 4 comments
This is really clever, and solves a lot of the problems with QR codes. Not just the hand-drawable-ness, these also look a lot better aesthetically.
joeld42 on HNI really like this - I think it would be an awesome way for people in cities to leave ephemeral easter eggs with chalk on a brick wall, for instance. Just because a lot of folks…
wrigby on HNhey, this is wonderful. it would be great if street painters adopted this to communicate with their audience. i would love to go into a tunnels with cool street paintings and…
dibbo on HNDamn, whole lot of hate in these comments. Chill out guys, nobody's trying to kill QR codes here. samfpetersen, you made a cool thing. Expiration of small tags is an interesting…
pavedwalden on HN
Objections
Depends on a central service; tags break if it goes down
From 3 comments
Unfortunately, and unlike a QR code, the data is not encoded in the drawing itself, which means an Internet connection is always needed. For URL sharing the Internet connection…
gbl08ma on HNThis is cool, though as said in the other comments, it's unfortunate that the readability of the codes are tied to the availability of the service, like a URL shortener, i.e.,…
qqueue on HN> once the Meshtag service goes down or closes for good, all tags become impossible to read That is my concern as well. Also, what problem does meshtag solve? Why wouldn't I just…
VT_Drew on HN
Only a URL shortener; QR codes already do this without an app
From 3 comments
This is nothing more than a (pointlessly!) complex URL shortener... Meshtags are exactly equivalent to the following hypothetical service which I call "SuperNumericShortener": 1.…
mrb on HNThis is more like an URL shortener than like a QR code.
mFixman on HNI don't really get why I'd use a Meshtag over a QR code. Pretty much everyone has a QR reader already, whereas this requires people to download a new app (for no real gain on…
LukeB_UK on HN
Hard to draw accurately; recognition fails for many drawings
From 2 comments
After playing with your app for a while, I have following feedback: 1. It could be some kind of niche fun, for example in case of urban/alternate/augmented reality games. 2.…
ArekDymalski on HNA problem I see with this is recognition. A QR code can be printed onto a piece of paper with no further information attached, and even some less-techy people will know what to…
chncdcksn on HN
Requests
Readable in standard iOS and Android barcode scanners
From 1 comment
I love this! For it to be compelling, it needs to be readable in a bunch of iOS / Android barcode scanners, though. Any plans there?
vessenes on HN
API and intents for developers
From 1 comment
Is there an API and intents for this?
Torgo on HN
Questions
Why a Google+ login is required
From 2 comments
Why does the app require a Google+ login? What needs verification?
lost_name on HNI used Google+ so that you wouldn't need to create a user id / password. Each tag that you create is "owned" by you, and you probably wouldn't want other people to edit it…
samfpetersen on HN
How many bits it can encode
From 1 comment
How many bits can it encode? I bet not many. And I bet it is far easier to just write down two or three characters like "Am3" or "IX8" and use OCR to extract the information.
amelius on HN
Alternatives named
QR codes
From 2 comments
> once the Meshtag service goes down or closes for good, all tags become impossible to read That is my concern as well. Also, what problem does meshtag solve? Why wouldn't I just…
VT_Drew on HNI don't really get why I'd use a Meshtag over a QR code. Pretty much everyone has a QR reader already, whereas this requires people to download a new app (for no real gain on…
LukeB_UK on HN
Microsoft Tag
From 2 comments
Doesn't it look like a replacement for the (dead) Microsoft Tag [1] ? [1] https://tag.microsoft.com
felipesabino on HNI think it's a mix of QR code plus Microsoft Tag. Tag suffers from the problem of requiring an internet connection but they do provide stats on how many people scanned the tag.
nadams on HN
Graffiti Codes (MIT Media Lab)
From 1 comment
There was a Media Lab project that did something similar 2 years ago -- and is open source https://github.com/JeremyRubin/Graffiti-codes
jaydub on HN
MaxiCode
From 1 comment
'Maxicode' uses a hexagonal pattern to encode the data - it's probably how this idea would evolve if you wanted to store the data in the pattern itself:…
Daneel_ on HN