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Comment by sbierwagen | Hacker News Reader

Tag was, of course, Microsoft's version of the QR code. It used color pixels, which meant it could encode more information in the same space.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Tag

Unfortunately, the way it's designed, every barcode is just an ID number that points at a Microsoft server, which then forwards the client to the actual URL. Once these servers shut down, every Tag code ever used will break forever.

Which is great. Pretty funny joke Microsoft is playing on whoever made the mistake of using their products.

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So a proprietary, incompatible, version of a standard no-one uses. I doubt today's notice will surprise anyone.

This real-world (not actually parody) QR code instruction pretty much sums it up: https://twitter.com/peteashton/status/349499283038433280/pho...

here are the stats of miniqr.com (a site i built during a sabbatical on a beach in mexico) http://replycam.com/i/miniqr-20130819-130622.jpg

and the google trends for qr-code http://replycam.com/i/Google_Trends_-_Web_Search_interest__q...

so yes, nobody uses QR-codes, and the people who used it are gone now, too.

If QR code readers were built into the default Android and iOS cameras, I'm sure they'd see a lot more use. Typing in URLs on smartphones is still a pain the ass, but it's still less a pain in the ass than downloading and maintaining a separate app for it.

iOS 7 adds QR code reading APIs to the system, but still doesn't support it in the OS outside of importing paper tickets into Passbook.

edit: URLs are so user-unfriendly that in parts of Asia they've simply ditched them from advertising and just show a graphic of a search box+button with their brand name in it, hoping nobody will SEO snipe them.

QR codes have a couple other problems, maybe open to having some kind of "startup based" solution:

They're too trackable and mostly used in throwaway applications. What looks better in a bean counter organization on someone's end of year review or resume: "Managed the delivery of 1M pieces of promotional direct mail" or "Managed the delivery of promotional direct mail resulting in 7 QR code accesses". Both can be true at the same time, but only one is making it to the review/resume.

J6P has no idea how to create a QR code. Yes yes all of us on HN know how to use google to find everything from web services to CPAN modules but J6P does not. So using legacy MS Word you highlight a URL and right click and ... Or using modern google docs you highlight a URL in the text and ? So QR codes are a write once by techies technology. Wake me when a girl scout troop leader can put one in her newsletter.

Finally they tend to be pretty ugly. Not a mandatory requirement, but for all practical purposes they're used as an eyesore. Now a decent graphics artist can take a startup domain name like drkoop.com and apply all manner of pretty font and color formatting, and play other style games but QR codes are mostly applied as any eyesore. In theory they can be embedded in a low contrast manner or in a textured area but they you get the epic fail of users not even knowing there's something there to scan, because QR code equals ugly so no ugly means there's no QR code.

> URLs are so user-unfriendly that in parts of Asia they've simply ditched them from advertising and just show a graphic of a search box+button with their brand name in it, hoping nobody will SEO snipe them.

Apparently, this has happened in the past and it sounds like there are multiple security firms discouraging this practice, but not sure if it's even stopping them.

It's partly poor word choice (e.g. generic terms) and also perhaps a big assumption that people would be using particular search engines that has more of a liberal advertisement scheme.

Qr codes are a cool and useful technology. For example, I can tag the code on this page ("http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22367") and store it in my app to read when I am in the train. For some reason I do this a lot. Here in Singapore, there are QR Codes everywhere and most of them are really userful. At Somerset 313 you can tag a code which opens a map on your phone showing you the shortest path to your point of interest.

QR Codes are awesome!

What these stats don't show, however, is the heavy use of 2D barcodes in industry. Whilst they have failed as a means of enabling the public, their true widespread use is worth remembering

It used color pixels, which meant it could encode more information in the same space. [...] every barcode is just an ID number that points at a Microsoft server, which then forwards the client to the actual URL.

If it's just an ID number, what is the extra capacity for?

The more bits per square arcsecond, the smaller the barcode has to be, which is always better. A high density barcode which just encodes a short number can be tiny.

At a guess, personalised tracking information perhaps?

This seems to be a habit with Microsoft - Spot, MSN Music, PlaysForSure, etc, all no longer work because Microsoft insisted on being the only service provider, then later on decided that they couldn't be bothered to continue providing the service.

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