When was the last time when you saw a QR code in an
advertisement and were excited to scan it, or on the back of your soda can and
put it down to see what the code redirects too? …
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When was the last time when you saw a QR code in an
advertisement and were excited to scan it, or on the back of your soda can and
put it down to see what the code redirects too? Or even worse, when was the
last time you stopped your car to snap a QR on a billboard?
Chances are that the answer is long time ago, and you’re not
alone. There are many reasons as to why QR codes are not getting hype anymore.
The most common reason is that, believe it or not, a lot of
people are still not aware what QR codes are or how to use them. Many don’t
even notice their presence. QR stands for Quick Response. These codes are two
dimensional barcodes and are supposed to be a simple way to link the user to
other content such as website links, phone numbers, contact information or
other text. The user scans the code using an application on their smartphone to
encode its content.
But even after you explain the concept to many people, they
still do not use it very regularly out of inconvenience or laziness. Android
and Apple smartphones do not come with a QR scanner application pre-loaded
(87.6% of phones sold in 2012) and that’s where the confusion starts. Other
users do not see the value of taking a minute of their time to pull out their
phones to scan a code which will lead them to information that they might not
be interested in.
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Even more disappointing is that many companies do not even
know how to implement QR codes correctly. Many times, they are too small for
the scanner to detect or placed in awkward or inappropriate locations that are
hard to scan (such as billboards, t-shirts, bathroom walls, etc…). Other times,
they link to websites that are flash-based or not mobile-friendly, thus ruining
the whole experience for the user.
QR placement is also very important; many companies fail to
see that. They include these codes in places where there is no wifi or 3G
signal such as airplanes or underground parking lots.
Possibly, the only effective use of QR codes that I have
seen is for sharing a BBM pin on Blackberry smartphones where the phone is
equipped with a QR scanner and users can easily scan each other’s phone to get
their pin.
With so many alternatives such as SMS short codes, augmented
reality apps, mobile applications, Bluetooth and NFC technologies, QR codes
will end up in the digital graveyard right next to Google Reader and Google
Buzz.
Photos source: WTFQRcodes.com
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