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The Curious Comeback of the Dreaded QR Code

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Re: The Curious Comeback of the Dreaded QR Code

#21

Post by rsync »

digi_owl wrote: post #9

Maybe i am completely out of the WXSW loop but when did QR become a joke? To me it always seemed like a nice and simple piece of tech.

I think you are indeed out of the loop, as this has been a punchline for several years now and is often mentioned in HN threads discussing QR Codes:

http://picturesofpeoplescanningqrcodes.tumblr.com/

I myself have never seen or heard of anyone actually using a QR code. However I read with great interest the HN thread two days ago about how cashless purchasing is done in China with wechat and QR codes, etc.

This is all relevant to my interests as "Oh By"[1], a project I am working on, is (among other things) a replacement for QR Codes.

[1] https://0x.co

Re: The Curious Comeback of the Dreaded QR Code

#22

Post by steanne »

digi_owl wrote: post #9

Maybe i am completely out of the WXSW loop but when did QR become a joke? To me it always seemed like a nice and simple piece of tech.

they're often used for contact information, especially URLs. however, common programs that can read qr codes can also read the same contact info when presented as text. the choice become presenting the data in a way both the user and the computer can read, or in a way only the computer can read.

they do have good uses, but contact info is not one.

Re: The Curious Comeback of the Dreaded QR Code

#23

Post by astrodust »

mrspeaker wrote: post #16
digi_owl wrote: post #9

Maybe i am completely out of the WXSW loop but when did QR become a joke? To me it always seemed like a nice and simple piece of tech.

Like, forever: http://picturesofpeoplescanningqrcodes.tumblr.com/ They just never caught on in the west - but for a while at least they were popular in Japan (maybe they still are). For me if I see a QR code and there's also a printed url then I'll just google it faster than finding my qr app. If it was more complex data than that it might be useful but I'm looking in my QR code history and I don't see them being use…

I know someone that would actually go out of their way to scan those QR codes for contests for the simple reason that nobody ever does and they'd often win prizes by default.

Re: The Curious Comeback of the Dreaded QR Code

#24

Post by dheera »

fhood wrote: post #2

Can someone explain to me what the advantages of QR codes are over bar codes or other similar methods?

The amount of information they can hold is especially important in the case of bank transactions. Alipay and Wechat Pay (in China) have QR codes that change every minute. The merchant transaction has to be performed with the current QR code. It's basically a poor man's substitute for the encrypted handshake provided by contactless payment protocols. If someone got your payment QR code they could only abuse it for 1 minute.

I do dislike the use of QR codes for static data, such as a username on business cards and posters. From a design standpoint it looks horrible and busy. I wish those apps had the ability to recognize a logo instead. Or even just a UI to scan and OCR a text username on a business card.

Re: The Curious Comeback of the Dreaded QR Code

#25

Post by toinetoine »

mrspeaker wrote: post #16
digi_owl wrote: post #9

Maybe i am completely out of the WXSW loop but when did QR become a joke? To me it always seemed like a nice and simple piece of tech.

Like, forever: http://picturesofpeoplescanningqrcodes.tumblr.com/ They just never caught on in the west - but for a while at least they were popular in Japan (maybe they still are). For me if I see a QR code and there's also a printed url then I'll just google it faster than finding my qr app. If it was more complex data than that it might be useful but I'm looking in my QR code history and I don't see them being use…

And China also, the Weechat app uses them for so much: paying at restaurants, adding contacts, etc.

Re: The Curious Comeback of the Dreaded QR Code

#27

Post by IshKebab »

digi_owl wrote: post #9

Maybe i am completely out of the WXSW loop but when did QR become a joke? To me it always seemed like a nice and simple piece of tech.

It definitely did. People use it everywhere in advertising where it has no use.

It's useful for other things, like scanning wifi passwords, or inventory tracking. Actually that's about it.

Re: The Curious Comeback of the Dreaded QR Code

#28

Post by astrodust »

toinetoine wrote: post #25
mrspeaker wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like, forever: http://picturesofpeoplescanningqrcodes.tumblr.com/ They just never caught on in the west - but for a while at least they were popular in Japan (maybe they still are). For me if I see a QR code and there's also a printed url then I'll just google it faster than finding my qr app. If it was more complex data than that it might be useful but I'm looking in my QR code history and I don't see them being use…

And China also, the Weechat app uses them for so much: paying at restaurants, adding contacts, etc.

For explicit data transfer (e.g. point of sale payment, Bitcoin address exchange) they work well.

For marketing they're stupid.

Re: The Curious Comeback of the Dreaded QR Code

#30

Post by problems »

mrspeaker wrote: post #16
digi_owl wrote: post #9

Maybe i am completely out of the WXSW loop but when did QR become a joke? To me it always seemed like a nice and simple piece of tech.

Like, forever: http://picturesofpeoplescanningqrcodes.tumblr.com/ They just never caught on in the west - but for a while at least they were popular in Japan (maybe they still are). For me if I see a QR code and there's also a printed url then I'll just google it faster than finding my qr app. If it was more complex data than that it might be useful but I'm looking in my QR code history and I don't see them being use…

Yeah, the urls were dumb for sure, but communicating cryptographic keys is a pretty great and common use for them.

Authenticator keys, Bitcoin addresses, wallet backup, setting up keys for things like Signal's desktop client, etc. All seem like great uses for QR codes to me.

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