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Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

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Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#71

Post by dheera »

er4hn wrote: post #6

As a counterpoint, QR code menus work very well in China. I've been to places where you scan the code to open a menu that lets you place all your orders. You can also pay for your table via per table QR codes. As a side note, you don't customarily tip in restaurants in China, so a non high-end place with good food will typically have rushed and curt wait staff. Ordering through the phone will give you a better experi…

Also because WeChat scans QR codes very fast, and you have to only hit 1 tap to do the whole thing. Once WeChat sees a QR it opens the link immediately and automatically.

The ordering also makes it more useful. Most restaurants in US just have a horrible HTML 1.0 menu with no ordering system, no pictures, and sometimes even goddamn frames.

With default Android it's like Home -> swipe -> camera -> 模式 -> 智慧鏡頭 and then point at the QR code while trying to tap the link that pops up as a tiny tooltip on the screen at the same time without making it go out of focus at the same time. It's awful.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#72

Post by dagmx »

dheera wrote: post #67
Karrot_Kream wrote: post #8

I gotta say, I disagree with this piece. I, for one, love QR code menus. I can pinch zoom rather than squint at a menu with small/unreadable fonts in dim lighting. I don't need to badger the already exhausted wait staff on a busy night when they forget to drop us a menu or two. When orders are taken online, rather than awkwardly force a friend to not go to the bathroom (or take their kid to the bathroom) until a serv…

Ugh. Why can't we have both? First of all it takes a shitton of steps to scan a QR code if you don't have WeChat. On a default Android device you have to click 7 or 8 times to get into the QR scanner thingy inside Google Lens. I carry a 2nd phone with WeChat and I can scan things in 0 seconds flat, but most people don't have it around here in the US. And then many restaurants' QR menus just redirect you to their webs…

The default camera app on both AOSP and iOS phones will scan QR codes, so it's really just a single step.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#73

Post by dheera »

snovv_crash wrote: post #69
dheera wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ugh. Why can't we have both? First of all it takes a shitton of steps to scan a QR code if you don't have WeChat. On a default Android device you have to click 7 or 8 times to get into the QR scanner thingy inside Google Lens. I carry a 2nd phone with WeChat and I can scan things in 0 seconds flat, but most people don't have it around here in the US. And then many restaurants' QR menus just redirect you to their webs…

Normal camera app scans QR codes...

I have to swipe to the rightmost tab in normal camera app and then hit Google Lens and then hover over it while trying to top the tiny tooltip that pops up with my huge finger.

Horrible experience.

It should just open the web page with zero taps if I point at a QR code in ANY camera mode, even portrait or panorama or movie or whatever the last mode I was on. I shouldn't have to tell it "I'm going to scan a QR code", it should always be looking for one, because it's computationally very, very cheap.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#74

Post by throwawayboise »

sundaeofshock wrote: post #61
noduerme wrote: post #52

As a former waiter, I tip extra well. If I encountered this, I'd be tempted not to tip at all except maybe slipping a $10 bill to the runner or the bus boy. And I wouldn't go back to the restaurant.

I’m also a former wait person so I don’t understand why you would punish the server because of the owner’s business decision.

If the servers don't get good tips, they go work elsewhere, so it eventually punishes the owner. Sucks for the servers in the meantime though.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#75

Post by MikeUt »

murphyslab wrote: post #50

As mentioned in the article, having a digital menu allows for a restaurant to adjust its offering in subtle and responsive ways. If a place is out of one ingredient, those items for which it is necessary could be struck. Or one could have "surge pricing" — not desirable as a customer, but certainly for a dining establishment. And one could also collect more information on customers. I'm still inclined toward tangible…

They could even charge different customers different rates, partnering with advertising firms to provide customer identification and segmentation.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#76

Post by dragonwriter »

dheera wrote: post #67
Karrot_Kream wrote: post #8

I gotta say, I disagree with this piece. I, for one, love QR code menus. I can pinch zoom rather than squint at a menu with small/unreadable fonts in dim lighting. I don't need to badger the already exhausted wait staff on a busy night when they forget to drop us a menu or two. When orders are taken online, rather than awkwardly force a friend to not go to the bathroom (or take their kid to the bathroom) until a serv…

Ugh. Why can't we have both? First of all it takes a shitton of steps to scan a QR code if you don't have WeChat. On a default Android device you have to click 7 or 8 times to get into the QR scanner thingy inside Google Lens. I carry a 2nd phone with WeChat and I can scan things in 0 seconds flat, but most people don't have it around here in the US. And then many restaurants' QR menus just redirect you to their webs…

> First of all it takes a shitton of steps to scan a QR code if you don't have WeChat Not really, on most real devices.

> On a default Android device you have to click 7 or 8 times to get into the QR scanner thingy inside Google Lens.

Perhaps, on stock Android with no manufacturer special apps. But the Samsung, Google, and LG Camera apps, at least, have “point at a QR code and the camera reads it”, so it takes as many clicks as opening the Camera app.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#77

Post by mjevans »

klhutchins wrote: post #35

QR codes are no good if cell service is spotty with certain carriers. Recently at a distant restaurant, I scanned the QR, waited for it to time out, discover there was no cell service, find the free wifi, enable my VPN, connect to the restaurants wifi, wait for authentication, then open camera app and scan QR again, wait for the kindle app to open the PDF, only to be handed a paper menu a few seconds later... I know…

The data limits for a QR code are rather small. Note the storage is also used by ECC payload, which generally isn't optional. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_code#Storage

The menu is probably going to insist on using lower case letters, and the "Binary/byte" encoding will be interpreted as something between 7-bit ASCII and UTF-8 depending on the client. With the ECC payload 2,953 bytes sounds like quite a lot, THEN you look at the giant art linked in the article for even small examples. The size (version) 40 takes 177×177 width of decodable, clearly visible pixels.

At that point the QR code is in the ballpark of a printed 8.5x11 or A4 sheet of paper, and is far less useful to humans than a laser printed page with multiple sizes of lettering, super high contrast, and no requirement for a computer to decode.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#78

Post by barbazoo »

cunthorpe wrote: post #49
whimsicalism wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be lovely if we could move closer to the Chinese consumer model re: QR codes in general. Wechat pay/Alipay are incredibly convenient.

Unlocking your phone, opening an app, possibly unlocking that one, tapping to scan, and then accept is NOT more convenient than NFC in your card. Unless your talking about costs. For private free money transfer, the US and many other places have similar if not better methods.

Or NFC in your phone. I can't imagine it being more convenient than that.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#79

Post by NamTaf »

I understand the benefits of phyiscal menus, but I for one relied on QR codes when working in China. I could go into a restaurant alone and use screenshots + google translate to essentially feed myself. Without a QR code, it was a gamble as to whether there were photos for me to see to order. Moreover, I didn't have to assume the waiter knew English, they'd just ferry out my food to my table when it was ready. I relied on this multiple times whilst there.

There's certainly benefits to both, and offering both makes sense to me. As with all things, a few options tends to be good.

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