The newest toy for both local restaurateurs and diners, as announced by a lengthy Chronicle piece yesterday, is the implementation of Citysearch "bar codes" in over 500 San Francisco restaurants, bars and various other businesses. It's the first large test market in the U.S., and the bar code actually looks like more of a crossword puzzle (see Cafe Claude storefront above). As best we can determine, here's how it works:
The scary, apocalyptic future is now for over 500 local restaurants and businesses that have implemented a new technology that allows prospective diners to literally scan a barcode on the storefront to read Citysearch reviews: "Now, in the first large test in the United States, online guides Citysearch and Antenna Audio are rolling out the technology in San Francisco, starting today ... More than 500 restaurants, shops and businesses reviewed by Citysearch are placing printed bar codes in their windows. People who have special software from Scanbuy Inc. loaded on their cell phones can simply take a picture of the code and their phone's Internet browser will immediately take them to the restaurant's corresponding Citysearch page. Users will be able to decide, based on the Citysearch reviews and other information, whether to step inside for dinner or keep walking down the street." What, no Yelp reviews? [Chron]
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