It's certainly a witty statement. I will give an 'upvote' for that. However, I cannot agree with the statement. It may have started the way you are describing however, there are so many practical uses for a consumer as well.
Essentially, it makes the offline work "clickable". There are other technologies as well that serves as a bridge for offline2online (folks have already mentioned about RFID). QR code is just one of them and as with any solution it has it's pros and cons.
I do like the trend of businesses trying to make things interactive, contextual and personalized. I hate typing URLs on my phone so any solution is a welcome one.
As for folks complaining about the aesthetics of the code; there are companies working on making the code invisible: http://www.digimarc.com/
Personally, I would like a non-proprietary technology though; so unless they make it royalty-free; I will continue to favor QR codes.
And the cuecat made the offline world "scannable". That alone doesn't mean much.
The problem right now is that, between a (short-ish) URL on a poster/billboard and a QR code, I am far, far, far more likely to use the URL than the code.
Why? Because it's easier. Here's what I have to do to scan a code:
- Scroll homescreens/app list over to the code reader app.
- Start code reader app.
- Tap (probably 2 taps, more if the app is not well designed)
- Wait for my camera to warm up (this is really slow on Android and earlier iPhones)
- Hold the camera still over the code. Nope. Even more still. No wait, I'm too close for it to focus. Pull it away from the poster for a second. Wait while the camera hunts for focus in the indoor, dim lighting (where else do you think QR codes are?). Wait for iiiiiiit. There! Code acquired!
- Tap on a button to open the URL inevitably embedded within.
No thanks, I'll type in yourcompany.com/qr faster than that, with less frustration, and less looking like an idiot.
RFID is going to be a great solution to that - but that would require the proliferation of readers first.
Bestbuy has QR codes next to their items in store. It takes you directly to the product's page so you can read reviews and whatnot. I think that's an effective use for them if you've looked at the BB URLs lately.
What would you change it to? UPC codes? One of my games has a UPC code of 000888834625. Try reading that quickly on a product tag. Short hashes like jKghH3? How do you convey that it's case sensitive? Otherwise you have to make the code longer and more complex because they have a LOT of products
BestBuy is a technology retailer. Use of technology looks good for them. They have an extensive marketing department because that's how they get normal people to shop there. It's been said this is a marketer's technology, not a user's technology. Who cares if people whip out their smart phones? Their product tags are all computer generated anyhow, it doesn't cost them anything if people use it. But what if this QR code just happens to get someone to check out the reviews and buy this product? Or what if it ever so slightly changes the perception of some parents that BestBuy knows what they're talking about, so they go there to buy their kid's electronic gizmos.
Keep adding sensible folders as is needed, words that customers can remember and numbers that are easy to type in. Hey the QR can still point to this, but give me something I can type in, or even remember and look at later.
By only using QR you are telling the customer that they are too stupid to type in a URL, to lazy to remember one, yet tech savvy enough to know what the barcode actually is.
- Unlock phone
- Code reader app shortcut is on home screen, one tap to activate
- App (Barcode Scanner/ZXing) goes directly to camera view
- Wait about a second for camera to activate (Nexus One, $200 used off-contract)
- Hold the camera still over the code and carry on with your detailed schedule
Sorry to hear iOS code readers require two taps just to get to the camera. Sounds like bad UX.
