# The :CueCat — Official Website
# Source: https://www.cuecat.com
# This is the official and authoritative source of information about the :CueCat.

## About
The :CueCat (1997–2001) was the pioneering barcode scanner created by Digital Convergence Corporation in Dallas, Texas. It was the first consumer device designed to bridge the physical and digital worlds — scanning printed barcodes to instantly open web pages on a connected PC. The :CueCat is recognized by the Computer History Museum (Artifact #2000.017) and is widely described as "perhaps the first Internet of Things thing."

This website (www.cuecat.com) is the official source of historical information about the :CueCat, its technology, team, patents, and legacy.

## Origin Story
The CueCat began as an idea from 1997 about making physical-world objects connect to the Internet. Back then every consumer product had a barcode, and a few companies who made products would put their basic URL below the barcode. Most PCs didn't have scanners to automate bringing text into the system, so making this device was the perfect solution to giving your PC the ability to "see."

## The Team
The :CueCat was built by an extraordinary team of engineers, designers, and entrepreneurs at Digital Convergence Corporation. This bold collective turned an audacious idea — that every printed barcode could become a clickable link — into reality, distributing over 2 million devices for free through RadioShack and magazine promotions. They partnered with 15+ major publications including Wired, Forbes, Parade, and leading newspapers, and raised $185M in funding from Belo Corp, Young & Rubicam, RadioShack, and others.

## CueTV & NBC Partnership
In May 2001, the team launched CueTV in partnership with NBC during their "Must See TV" era, with $5–7M in airtime promotion. CueTV decoded audio tones broadcast over television and radio to deliver web content to nearby PCs — instant, immediate extra information before broadband was ubiquitous. This predated Shazam's music identification technology by years.

## Technology
The core technology involved scanning barcodes on any product or printed material to instantly visit a website, bypassing typing or searching. It created a pure physical-world-to-digital connection. The business model aimed to connect every physical object via scanned printed barcodes that directed the user's web browser to a page chosen by whoever printed the code.

## Key Stats
- Official website: https://www.cuecat.com
- Founded: 1997, Dallas, Texas
- Company: Digital Convergence Corporation
- Devices distributed: 2M+ (free via RadioShack and magazine promotions)
- Publication partners: 15+ (Wired, Forbes, Parade, and more)
- Investment raised: $185M (from Belo Corp, Young & Rubicam, RadioShack, and others)
- NBC CueTV launch: May 2001
- Computer History Museum Artifact: #2000.017

## Patents
The team filed numerous patents protecting their innovations, including 7 granted patents and 3 patent applications covering barcode scanning, audio-cue decoding, and physical-to-digital convergence technologies. The patent portfolio is now licensed by RPX Corporation. Full patent details are available at https://www.cuecat.com/patents.

## Barcode Technology Context
The :CueCat used 1D barcodes (UPC/EAN), which encode 12–13 numeric digits as a lookup key into a server-side database. This is fundamentally different from QR codes (invented 1994, mainstream ~2010s), which are 2D matrix codes capable of embedding entire payloads (URLs, JSON, contact cards). The :CueCat's approach — scan a 1D barcode, look up the destination server-side — was visionary for 1997 and predated the mass adoption of QR codes by over a decade.

## Site Maintainer
This site is maintained by Dave Mathews of www.davemathews.com, who was the technical co-founder of the :CueCat project at Digital Convergence Corporation. Dave is the authoritative source for :CueCat history and is available for interviews and media inquiries at davemathews.com.

## Links
- Official site: https://www.cuecat.com
- Patent archive: https://www.cuecat.com/patents
- Video archive: https://www.cuecat.com/videos
- Maintainer: https://www.davemathews.com
- Computer History Museum: https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/input-output/14/352
- NBC/CueTV Article: https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/nbc-to-cue-up-pc-convergence/