What is a QR code?
It was initially designed in 1994 by a Japanese company to track parts as they moved through the automobile assembly process. QR codes (or Quick Response codes) are two-dimensional codes that you can scan with a smartphone. The code contains information, usually a site address, and once you scan it, the code connects you with a resource on the web.
The QR code might have just remained a workhorse for product cataloguing if it had not been for another invention: mobile devices with cameras. As people soon became inseparable from their smartphones, everyone always had a QR code scanner at their fingertips wherever they went.
That said, its rise to mainstream adoption wasn’t easy. As recent as the 2010s, you needed to download a variety of apps to scan various codes. Very frustrating and not exactly what we’d call good user experience.
But as it turns out, QR codes were just ahead of their time. It took awhile for smartphones to catch up, but these days, you no longer need a separate app to scan QR codes. For instance, iPhones with iOS 11 (launched in 2017) or later can read QR codes using just the standard camera app.
Nowadays, QR codes are used for a myriad of purposes, such as:
- Advertising (connecting consumers to a brand’s website for discounts)
- E-payments
- Joining WiFi networks without having to enter passwords
- Providing more information about exhibits at museums, art galleries
- Restaurant Menus
- Coupons in the store
The first time I used a QR code was in the late 90’s at a historic State Park and I had to download a special QR reader. Now? My iPhone is a reader! When my sister was in town, we went to a restaurant where you have to order via QR and we paid that way also.
In the future (and some trendsetters are already doing some of these) you might be able to scan a house For Sale Sign and get all the details. Packaged goods might have a QR that shows you recipes using that item, name tags at conventions (no more running out of business cards), to get more signatures for a petition (change.org) is already doing this)
