QR code stands for "Quick Response" code. It was created by a Toyota owned company in 1994, in order to more quickly register the contents of boxes. In the following years and with the rise of mobile technologies, it seemed the perfect solution to quickly and efficiently bring mobile phone users onto the mobile web.
While QR codes should really live up to their name, in reality there is nothing "Quick" about using them. You unfortunately have to download an app, open it, hold the phone over the code and wait for it to process. This takes far too long to hold anybody's attention, and is why traditional media such as posters are far more effective marketing tactics and why you really don't see many QR codes. Going back to the opening paragraph, this technology was created for quickly scanning the content in boxes, we have since tried to adapt it into a marketing tactic. Another example of a similar misused technology being seen a lot this holiday season are TV commercials using Shazam. In the time you are warned to take out your phone and start shazam'ing a commercial for more info, you are left with about 3 seconds(if that) for the app to actually process the music and take you to the micro site...in which it usually doesn't because it needs more time to process the music.
There are new technologies that are out or on the verge of being released that aim to eliminate the lengthy process of utilizing QR codes and still yield similar results. One of these is called GPS based push notifications, which could be used to serve deals or promotions by simply walking near a flagged area. Technology like this may put QR codes in their grave as the automation completely eliminates the innate flaws of QR codes and similar technologies.
A great example of the move away from QR codes can be seen from some large companies this holiday season. Specifically, Starbucks and Target who in years past dabbed in QR codes, but this year have opted to use more interactive technologies such as Augmented Reality. Augmented Reality, if you don't know is a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data.
I'm a firm believer that QR codes are on the way out in 2012 from the emergence of more automated and interactive technologies...or possibly the mayan calendar.
Once the app is downlaoded, it is always on your smart phone. Scanning a QR code takes 2-3 seconds, connecting to the web site, mobile coupon or documenet takes a second or two depending on what you are downloading. So the whole process only takes a total of 5-6 seconds, BIG DEAL?? A typical mobile coupon takes seconds and typically has a link to a phone number of mobile web site that can be accessed easily. QR codes are here for a long long time and 2012 wil be a great year for marketing your business using QR codes. QR codes have brought print media back to life!
Interesting that you deem AR a suitable replacement. All AR uses also require an app download, and usually a different app depending on who created the AR and for what purpose. Essentially the same time, if not slower in the cases I've tried, as QR Codes. GPS push notifications ar e abetter solution, but I can guarantee there will be a number of different apps needed to pick those up too, dpendant on the creation platform.
Railing against QR Codes is all the rage right now, but there have been very few strong cases put forward.
I think this article is somewhat uninformed. Suggesting that AR or GPS push notifications are a replacement for QR codes is flawed.
1) AR is harder to use. You need the app specific to the AR creator, for example, Blippar. With QR, one app will scan all QR codes. Also, anything but the top-spec smartphones can't handle AR and animations are basic.
2) If you are serious about suggesting a technology that will replace QR codes, talk about NFC. NFC *will* replace some of the QR functionality, but not all. Happy to share - get in contact.
Nick @ GetQRky.com
Agree, the QR code is dead! It's nothing - it doesn't move, make sounds, and is no more than pixel dust. In fact, it's a lot like papyrus, which later became paper, another dead medium. At first we were all a gaga over this dead plant flattened out enough to accept writing. The paper was what we first saw, and it wasn't anything. How much can you say about plain old paper, anyway?
It's the writing that we cared about. After 5,000 years, we really only care about the message that's conveyed by the writing on that dead paper. And like dead paper, the QR code is also dead and flat and does nothing, except take us to a message, in writing, that we care about. So I agree, the QR code is dead, and free, and everywhere, so how valuable can it be? It can have no more value than paper. And what good has paper ever done for civilization?
A lot more about nothing here: http://www.qr-codeworld.com/blog/
Wow you are so misguided...QR codes are one of the most exciting things to happen to marketing since the web.
Where they fail is when someone uses them to drive visitors to poor landing pages or home pages instead of delivering them to a useful, engaging, interesting, exciting piece of info, a coupon, a video etc
I am disappointed in your ignorance.
Yet another poorly researched article that doesnt fully understand the benefits of QR Codes .
If you think QR codes are dead, just wait and see what happens in Wrigleyville (Chicago, IL, USA) on Super Bowl Sunday....
Hey, we went half way already! (: It's not AR, but not far - Free iPhone app in the store, Android will soon follow.
Picalogo identifies the business the user is in merely by taking a picture of it's logo - and the logo is everywhere, from sugar bags to the invoice. We use state of the art computer vision to identify the logo, automatically crossing the resulted ID with nearby venue lists, then check in to Foursquare & Facebook while grabbing available coupons - all in one click!
Picalogo is currently finishing it's public beta, while seeking U.S. business partners, mainly mobile coupons distributers. Take a look.
BTW, re GPS, the problem is very low accuracy, especially under roof. You'll enter a mall, and will be "Pushed" with too many offers to browse through from businesses within few hundreds yards. Positioning by WiFi would have worked better but presents legal problems, while Apple does not approve using this tech in iOS. All and all, business-specific location is not a simple issue (: That's why we went for the logo.
Yes, this is great info but leaves my clients who are stepping into mobile interactive in a lurch. I'm afraid augmented reality and GPS push is not only not their style, but beyond most of their current understanding to implement.
I appreciate your desire to be on the cusp, but offering such intangible technologies in its place doesn't help me much.
Interesting post.
Firstly, I would like to thank you for sharing the valuable information, because many things like GPS based push notification and augmented Reality are new for me as well as many readers. With the arrival of these technologies in 2012, QR codes need more innovation strategies else many marketers would go for other options similar to Starbucks and Target.