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Comment by kolektiv | Hacker News Reader

The question isn't "is there utility" but "is there sufficiently more utility than alternatives to justify their use". I don't think I've come across a situation where the answer to that is yes. The barriers are high.

Most people a) don't have a reader b) don't really know what they are. Compare this to something like a URL/domain which people do recognise the format of, or a discount code ("use SUBWAY10 for 10% off!") to achieve the same goals.

Seriously, I would love to hear of any use cases where a QR Code was the absolute best approach.

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I've gone over all this several times before. It's great to have a facility to visit a website (or other text) that doesn't involve having to type in either a long piece of text, or a shortened piece of text that's some random mix of unusual characters. It takes me less than 20 seconds, including time taken to get the phone from my pocket, to scan a code. I've gone to stage shows, theatre productions and visited companies for special offers, none of which I would have done had they not had the QR code.

There is no other current alternative that I know. Please, name some alternatives that I could use, straight away, without downloading anything (and no, I didn't have to download my QR reader, it came with the phone), without configuring anything, and that is as error resistant as QR codes.

Even if I do have to download something, tell me what reasonable alternatives exist when I'm standing on a train using one hand to hold on.

I'm not particularly a QR advocate, but for me, they are useful, and I'm getting tired of people telling me they aren't, and that they should go away. I'm especially tired of people removing from me things that work, and replacing them either with things that don't, or with nothing.

What would be wrong with OCR plus a marker or two to indicate a scannable area (and maybe content type) - human readable, phone scannable.

My biggest issue with QR codes is there is no indication of what they are before scanning. That, and I dislike most forms of advertising.

  > What would be wrong with OCR plus a marker or two
  > to indicate a scannable area

Simple:

* There is no OCR that is currently sufficiently reliable

* It has no error correction ability, so is not robust against damage

* There are currently no apps I know that can perform this function

So go to it, create an app that works on all known phones and is robust against up to 30% damage, and you may have something with which to penetrate the market.

  > My biggest issue with QR codes is there is no indication
  > of what they are before scanning.

My phone tells me what it is and asks permission to open it, and the context usually tells me what it should be. I don't bother with context-less QR codes. Beside, this is not a problem with the code, it's a problem with the brain-dead manner in which some people use them.

  > That, and I dislike most forms of advertising.

I scan codes for shows, films, and shops. I know what I'm getting, and it's simple, clear, and my choice. I don't like advertising either, but sometimes I see notices of things I want to use, see, or get involved with.

Example 1. We are about to send out a large shipment of equipment. Each machine will be outfitted with a QR code. When scanned, the QR code will link to an individual machine page so you can monitor test continuity in real time e.g. Rolls Royce testing the durability of a new tire or Medtronic testing the performance of a small titanium screw intended for use in the body. These tests need to run continually for very long periods of time. They are very expensive to restart. The number of machines is overwhelming to enter individual URLs by hand.

What would be a better approach?

Example 2. Whenever I shop for electronics, I always take advantage of QR codes to read specs and reviews. My local OfficeMax has the codes on almost all price tags, usually linking them to both the manufacturer's page and Amazon reviews.

What would be a better approach?

How about that Tesco campaign in South Korea?

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