The Celebration

[PricelineNegotiator]

Ok so I was at a brewpub last night and the only way you could view the menu was by scanning a little qr code on the table on your phone, this was to minimize COVID exposure obviously. I pulled my phone out and opened the camera and it worked straight away. Didn't have to initiate any certain mode, just the camera.

 

[Joe]

exactly. you yourself just described how complex it is. you need to:

-unlock the phone
-locate the app (camera or specialized app)
-open the app
-if it's camera, make sure it's in the right mode (not video/selfie etc.)
-carefully aim at QR code
-tap to scan

it's a labor-intensive cumbersome process that is also utterly boring. this process cannot even be called "scanning".

true efficient scanning of QR code would look like this:

-unlock the phone
-pass the phone over the QR code

that's it.

until then QR codes will never become popular.

Which is exactly what you have to do to scan a code in the supermarket for a ups code. Your exact statement was "i believe that QR codes will never catch up until it's at least as easy as scanning a code in the supermarket". One is no more of 'a labor-intensive cumbersome process' than the other.

 

[Joe]

Stop making sense.

Yeah! What was I thinking?

 

[Joe]

You forgot the bit where the QR code lands you on an irrelevant web page.

I was assembling a PC and the printed instructions for one part included a QR code for a YouTube instructional video and a typed URL for the same video. The typed URL went to a 404 error page. Scanning the QR code took me straight to the correct YouTube video so they do have a place. Especially if you are using a phone in the first place, which I wasn't in the previous example. It is much easier to scan a code than to type a lengthy web address on a phone.

 

[zevrix]

Which is exactly what you have to do to scan a code in the supermarket for a ups code. Your exact statement was "i believe that QR codes will never catch up until it's at least as easy as scanning a code in the supermarket". One is no more of 'a labor-intensive cumbersome process' than the other.

Look I don't know maybe supermarkets work differently where you live, but here you just need to pass the product over the scanner. That's it.

 

[Joe]

You mean the stores scanner? We used to have those here but they have removed them all and encourage you to download their app. Open the app. Go to the scanner portion of the app and scan the code on their product. Every store has their own app. From supermarkets to department stores to home improvement stores. So you have to have the app for every store you go to and scan their codes through their app.

 

[gordo]

Go to the scanner portion of the app and scan the code on their product. Every store has their own app. From supermarkets to department stores to home improvement stores. So you have to have the app for every store you go to and scan their codes through their app.

Dumb, dumb, dumb. Then add all the other proprietary scanner apps to your phone and you’ll spend more time figuring out which reader to use let alone find it on your phone.
Sheesh.

 

[keith1]

Seems we're missing the big picture here. Shouldn't stores have prices clearly marked on products in the first place?
They've already pretty much destroyed the concept of customer service — why online shopping is so prevalent now. They even have us checking ourselves out and bagging our own purchases. In some stores it's hopeless trying to find anyone to help, let alone anyone who has an inkling about what they speak of.
I refuse to use the self check out and am happy to report that one day at a major drug store chain there were 5 of us waiting for the single cashier. When prompted to use the self check out (which was sitting idle) 4 of us 5 refused.
I say; death to QR Codes & price scanners.

 

[Joe]

Dumb, dumb, dumb. Then add all the other proprietary scanner apps to your phone and you’ll spend more time figuring out which reader to use let alone find it on your phone.
Sheesh.

Marketing run amok.