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Comment by peckrob | Hacker News Reader

I remember when these first came out. There was a lively small hacker scene around these, with people "declawing" them so they could be used as regular keyboard wedge barcode scanners. When Digital Convergence folded, I got my buddy at Radio Shack to hold aside a bunch for me that were never distributed. So I had a box of like 15 of these things. I think I still do somewhere.

Around 2004 I was helping out with a first-year science fiction convention and we needed barcode scanners for the art show and convention store but couldn't afford to buy really nice ones on a shoestring budget. So we used CueCats. They're slow compared to the nicer flash scanners, but worked pretty well. :)

Every time I see a QR code, I think of CueCats and wonder if anyone actually scans them. Seems like that "fad" has started to fade recently.

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> Every time I see a QR code, I think of CueCats and wonder if anyone actually scans them.

http://picturesofpeoplescanningqrcodes.tumblr.com

Am I the only one who doesn't see any pictures, people, scanners, or QR codes? Or am I not getting the joke, because maybe no one scans QR codes?

Yes, that is the joke.

Okay... But to be fair there are valid uses of qr codes. In the last month I've used them for my vr giggles (easy method for registering your specific vr set with some certain vr software) and for going in concerts (qr code saved in iPhone wallet app)

I had a similar reaction. I like the joke the site is making, it's well done. I had a good laugh the first time I saw it, and I've shared it with friends. Jokes are often huge exaggerations though.

QR Codes definitely have valid use cases, and I'm wondering if they aren't also somewhat 'ahead of their time'. They are useful ways to transfer contexts in the physical world. VR, and especially AR (Augmented Reality), is about combining the physical world with the digital one.

I'm imagining a future where not very many people "see" QR codes, but rather have AR devices like we have cellphones now, and they simply see the relevant content in place over the QR code or similar. I think of use cases like glancing down the street at a bus stop, seeing live updates of a NCAA bracket on a poster on the wall, those sorts of things.

I think a lot of the problem with QR codes is simply the friction of using them. I could see them used much more if you could simply open a website by literally pointing a phone at them (e.g. without any setup, opening apps).

When we have persistent AR at all times, the friction could be non-existent, you already see the information in place.

There's also the possibility that location and motion tracking are good enough that they can always be virtual, but I feel like the real world reference and 'binding' cues are important. We'll see how things unfold.

«I think a lot of the problem with QR codes is simply the friction of using them. I could see them used much more if you could simply open a website by literally pointing a phone at them (e.g. without any setup, opening apps).»

Partly why about the only case where I've found QR codes particularly useful is the Xbox One with Kinect. Voice command "Xbox Use a Code" and then hold it up for the Kinect camera, maybe walk it forward a bit. Not a lot of friction and Xbox One QR codes almost all mention the "Xbox Use a Code" voice command. (Remembering the days of the Xbox 360 where nearly every game had at least one packed in code and you typically just typed them in with the soft keyboard and your gamepad, the Xbox One QR codes are a genuine improvement if you have a Kinect, though at this point in the lifecycle pack in codes seem a little less common and digital only purchases a more common preference for myself.)

Opening a QR app is much faster than typing my WPA key.

I see tons of QR codes. No one scans them, but I see them all the time.

They've been around for many years, so that makes me think that someone is using them. I would be surprised if they weren't tracked like hell.

I use QR codes at a local parking garage to pay for my car occupying a specific spot. That is the only useful thing I've seen done with them.

I never see QRs in the US, but they're all over the place in Japan. Not sure how much they get used still.

http://picturesofpeoplescanningqrcodes.tumblr.com/ is one of my favorite sites on the internet.

Google Cardboard has the best use of QR codes I've seen recently - they convey the config for device. You scan it with your phone instead of having to enter the values by hand. Because they're printed on the device, you're not searching for those config details when you use it with a new phone six months later.

I hear they're big in china.

http://dangrover.com/blog/2016/01/31/more-chinese-mobile-ui-...

My office put up signs with a giant QR code and "Lost?" The QR code links to a web page with a map.

Why not just post the map?

Because you can't take that map with you.

no but you can take a picture of that map

However you can't zoom, adjust layers, and make queries of a picture of a map. Ideally you would have both. Print the map... Put a QR to the enhanced digital version in the corner.

I assume it was because QR codes are futureish and someone claimed this was innovative

Because the map might change in the future. You can keep the link the same, but update the content.

Or print a new map?

Or a short URL to the map.

Because maps often need updating. What you're saying is kind of like saying "why have a link when you can just copy the page directly?"

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