Comments on: A quick look at Quick Response codes

By: John

John — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 17:56:22 +0000

Thanks all!

By: Eva

Eva — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 06:48:52 +0000

Scott Bartell asked about how many people scan QR codes. Here’s some recent research I came across on that:

*52% have seen or heard of QR codes
*28% have actually scanned a code
*6% say QR code has led to a purchase
I heard of QR Codes from
http://www.keepautomation.com/products/net_barcode/barcodes/qrcode.html
How about you?

By: Dmitry K Valberg

Dmitry K Valberg — Mon, 09 May 2011 22:34:05 +0000

Thx for tutorial. Got inspired and created my own QR-code with logo and gfx elements:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gcardinal/5705146280/

By: Norma Vela

Norma Vela — Fri, 06 May 2011 18:30:38 +0000

Didn’t Google already abandon QR codes and move to something else – http://dsinsights.blogspot.com/2011/04/why-googles-abandoning-qr-codes-in.html

By: Greg Smith

Greg Smith — Fri, 06 May 2011 18:07:43 +0000

Good points, everyone. I would like to add that the I observed everyone is focusing on the technology in this discussion. No matter how much a technology appears to be a fad, it is always nothing more but one of two things: 1) a communication tool, or 2) a calculator. Communication tools come and go with fads, while calculation tools always upgrade. The Cue Cat and this QR code system are communication tools to the consumer, but calculation tools for the vendors.

When does the Consumer respond and become loyal to a communication method? When it adds a great amount of value to their life. When I tried the Cue Cat system, I experienced a newly gimmicky communication method. Great idea, but when I went through the effort, it fell on its nose for me by not adding any more valuable information or experiences than what I got from the magazine. In fact, the magazine was more exciting!

In short, the “stickiness” of the QR code technology with the consumer will rely on how much value is delivered back to the consumer. If vendors can find a business model to give the consumer something fantastic for free and without forcing more advertising at them, then I think the tool will be widely adopted like lightning by the consumer, and hence, the calculations created by the tool for the vendor would reap huge rewards by way of adding prediction and reachability of their consumers / fans for years to come!

By: Greg Chow, writer

Greg Chow, writer — Fri, 06 May 2011 14:33:49 +0000

Jim- a decade ago, I actually worked at a magazine that employed the ‘cutting edge’ Cue Cat technology by adding barcodes to their pages. At the time, I thought it was cool (a magazine linking to the Internet!), but also gimmicky. The biggest problem was that you had to go to Radio Shack to get the actual Cue Cat barcode scanner, then sit at your computer with the magazine. Additionally, to use the Cue Cat, you had to register online with your email address and location, and that turned many prospective users away.
Today, with smart phones used as QR readers, you don’t need to be at your computer to use QR codes, and you don’t have to register with a company or provide any personal information. I think the convenience factor is the major reason QR codes are becoming popular now. They may end up being a fad that we’ll forget about in a year, but with smart phones acting as QR readers, using QR codes today is much, much easier than using the Cue Cat ten years ago. Also, most smart phones are not shaped like cats.

By: Jim Shamlin

Jim Shamlin — Fri, 06 May 2011 11:26:43 +0000

I’ve noticed these QR codes here and there … and am wondering if they’re really getting much attention or use. I recall it was a decade or so ago that they first appeared, then just as soon disappeared. It seemed rather quaint and faddish then, and a bit silly now that they are coming back around after failing so miserably the first time.

I’d qualify “failed” to be limited to consumer marketing. They seem to have done well in logistics, and most package-delivery services seem to have adopted them for the long-run. But as a marketing gimmick, they didn’t work at all. Just as the “Cue Cat” failed a few years before. (Does the fact that I even remember the “cue cat” belie my age? Anyone else?)

I wouldn’t go so far as to say anyone should be discouraged to experiment with them – too often, people dismiss something that didn’t work the first time and neglect to “try, try again” – and perhaps now that cell phones with cameras and Web browsers are more commonplace, it will work this time around. But I do think it’s something to approach with greater reluctance and circumspection, for exactly that reason.