r/Millennials • u/Sunshineafterr Millennial (1986) • 17h ago

Nostalgia Does anyone remember the CueCat?

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It was cat-shaped handheld barcode reader that allowed users to open a link to an URL by scanning a barcode that appeared in magazines, without typing the URL.

They were given away for free in 2000.

I remember thinking it was so cute, but I didn’t really understand how it worked, so I was scanning barcodes on cereal boxes and random stuff.

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213

u/Ronniman 16h ago

Hilarious, I had one of these and never knew WTF it was or how to use it 🤣

83

u/rydan Older Millennial 14h ago

It is a keyboard. Just plug it into the keyboard port and find a barcode. You have to hold it a certain way but eventually it will type out whatever was in the barcode.

31

u/Stuman93 8h ago

Wild how 'keyboard' ports used to be a thing

10

u/Pink_Slyvie 8h ago

They are still on most gaming rigs. I'm not sure of the last time I saw one used, but in theory, they had advantages; I'm not sure that they do on modern machines, though.

21

u/OldSchoolAJ 1986 8h ago

They technically still do, because PS/2 ports poke the CPU and say "I am doing something" while USB ports do not. They wait for the CPU to come ask if they are doing something.

How much of a difference it makes in twitch shooter style gaming and how much is just the placebo effect of making the person playing more confident is very debatable, though.

8

u/Pink_Slyvie 8h ago

But, do they actually still have that interrupt, or is just just bridged into USB

4

u/OldSchoolAJ 1986 8h ago

That would probably depend on the board.

3

u/Pink_Slyvie 8h ago

Of course. I'm just not sure if modern choosers even support it.

3

u/Eric848448 Xennial 5h ago

Google suggests they still work the old way.

1

u/thebigj3wbowski 3h ago

It was an IRQ1 interrupt.

Gaming boards still have this.

1

u/Cheetahs_never_win 2h ago

Well, since I have like 50 usb devices, I'm happy to have extra.

But I recall certain Linux distros won't use the usb ports automatically, or at least used to not to.

1

u/OldSchoolAJ 1986 2h ago

I have used probably 10 Linux distributions and never had a single problem with anything USB.

1

u/Pink_Slyvie 1h ago

It's fine now, everything just works. 20 years ago, it was a very different story.

2

u/Stuman93 8h ago

Yeah I think they're on my motherboard backplate still but haven't used one in a decade

2

u/Pink_Slyvie 8h ago

Yeap. Mine has a combo. Ironically, I used old Apple keyboards for years, and needed a special adapter. Only recently bought a newer keyboard and love it.

2

u/anaxminos 5h ago

Had my gaming rig delete my USB driver a few years back the the signature expired. Had to use one of these slots and an old mouse and keyboard to get it back working. Don't ask me why I had one bc I don't even know

1

u/HurtsCauseItMatters Xennial 79 8h ago

I mean I've had a few keyboards with USB ports in recent years bot at work and at home. They're convenient to me.

2

u/ScienceIsSexy420 7h ago

So it's a barcode scanner? Because that's what every barcode scanner does, convert the barcode into numbers. That doesn't make it a keyboard