
The Curious Comeback of the Dreaded QR Code - ohjeez
https://www.wired.com/story/the-curious-comeback-of-the-dreaded-qr-code
======
nayuki
This article gets many things wrong. First, I don't understand why they call
QR codes "dreaded". They are simply a standard for communication, not unlike
writing down an [http://](http://) URL in human-readable text.

> Don't look now, but QR codes have begun to creep back. They have different
> names now—Snap Codes and Spotify Codes and Messenger Codes and Other Things
> Codes—and a much improved sense of style, but the idea hasn't changed.

Snapchat ID codes and Facebook Messenger ID codes are NOT based on QR Code
technology. They don't look remotely the same. My guess is that they are
proprietary and have no published standard. Because of their geometry and
layout, they both probably have much lower raw information density than QR
codes.

What's funny is that in China QR codes are commonly called by the generic name
of 二維條碼 (two-dimensional barcodes), but the Wired article makes the opposite
mistake of calling every 2D barcode as "QR Code".

However, note that WeChat/Weixin/微信 2D barcodes _are_ valid QR codes. (The
picture in the middle is treated as a correctable error.)

~~~
aphextron
>They are simply a standard for communication, not unlike writing down an
[http://](http://) URL in human-readable text.

So why not encode that data in a human readable format? I think it's the same
argument as a binary storage format vs. plaintext. Sure you gain a slight bit
of efficiency on the application side of things. But the decreased portability
and ease of use is usually not worth the trade-off.

------
oobey
Our software uses QR codes for inventory tracking. They're absolutely
wonderful - you can store loads of data in a format that's very easily parsed
by handheld scanning devices. So much data that you can completely do away
with having to call out to a central database for item information, as you do
with bar codes.

QR codes are great, and I never understood why they're treated as such a joke.

~~~
crispyambulance
I think they're great too, but they don't hold more info (per unit area) than
other types of symbology like, for example, datamatrix. If you really want to
stuff tons of data in the symbol itself, you need PDF417. That can be scanned
by a specialized line scanner (admittedly not convenient for phone cameras)

QR codes often encode URL's/URI's and the application typically hits up a
database upon scanning them just like any other inventory barcode.

~~~
nayuki
It is not clear whether these statements are true.

* QR codes mandate a minimum of 15% area used for error correction and a maximum of 60%.

* Data Matrix codes mandate a minimum of 0% area used for error correction and a maximum of 50%.

* The amount of overhead in QR codes (finders, timing, alignment) is probably in the same ballpark as Data Matrix codes (black lines, checkered lines).

* PDF417 codes demand low vertical resolution (e.g. 15 thick steps) but high horizontal resolution (e.g. 200 thin steps). They are hard to scan on a phone camera. Although this thick-thin design is appropriate for line scanners, the asymmetry in horizontal-vertical information density leads to poor information density overall and higher susceptibility to damage and unreadable barcodes. Square primitive blocks make sense because they are more spatially balanced.

~~~
crispyambulance
Datamatrix uses ECC200 almost always. In practice, especially for phone-reader
applications, the limiting factor for data transmission is not the symbology
choice (datamatrix/QR) but limitations from the camera.

That said dense 2D barcodes read by dedicated imagers in controlled lighting
scenarios, as far as I've seen, are always datamatrix. Not sure if that's
merely historical or if there's a technical reason for that.

------
digi_owl
Maybe i am completely out of the WXSW loop but when did QR become a joke?

To me it always seemed like a nice and simple piece of tech.

~~~
mrspeaker
Like, forever:
[http://picturesofpeoplescanningqrcodes.tumblr.com/](http://picturesofpeoplescanningqrcodes.tumblr.com/)

They just never caught on in the west - but for a while at least they were
popular in Japan (maybe they still are).

For me if I see a QR code and there's also a printed url then I'll just google
it faster than finding my qr app. If it was more complex data than that it
might be useful but I'm looking in my QR code history and I don't see them
being used for anything but simple links.

~~~
toinetoine
And China also, the Weechat app uses them for so much: paying at restaurants,
adding contacts, etc.

~~~
astrodust
For explicit data transfer (e.g. point of sale payment, Bitcoin address
exchange) they work well.

For _marketing_ they're stupid.

~~~
digi_owl
So we let one (ab)use of it tar and feather the whole technology in the social
sphere. Gotta love how we approach tech these days...

~~~
astrodust
What I mean is it's useful when people aren't being punched in the face with
them. A QR code to pay for things makes sense. For consumers it's "scan this
thing and it transfers", not unlike a tap. In that mode it's a transparent
technology. Nobody needs to know what an RFID chip is, or what NFC means.
They're all "tap to pay" or "tap to open door".

For other applications where the QR code itself is grandstanding as being
somehow important or novel it's ridiculous. In other words, anything that says
"Scan our QR code" is an automatic fail because you'll have to open a special
app to read it, not the payment app that just happens to use them as a method
of data exchange.

------
nlawalker
_> > QR codes, it turns out, were just ahead of their time._

No they weren't, they were given a bad reputation because their use in ad
campaigns, where they were exclusively deployed as a tool to con people into
actively viewing more ads, dwarfed other uses in both number and visibility to
the average person. Google did exactly the same thing to the reputation of its
own product (Glass) in a similar way - by trying to convince people that it
was going to be something that everyone was going to wear all the time.

It makes sense that they're becoming more popular now that they're not being
used in ads so much anymore, and instead being used for games and other
features that actually do things users want to do.

------
lightbyte
Surprised they didn't mention cryptocurrencies at all here. Scanning QR codes
to enter an address when making a transaction is pretty much the only feasible
option I know of. Manually entering a very long random string is too much of a
hassle, especially if you'd want to do real-world transactions.

~~~
rsync
"Scanning QR codes to enter an address when making a transaction is pretty
much the only feasible option I know of. Manually entering a very long random
string is too much of a hassle, especially if you'd want to do real-world
transactions."

You can use an Oh By Code.[1]

From the "HN FAQ":[2]

"You don't need any software or tools to create them. You don't need a reader
or an app to read them. You can write them down anywhere with any pencil, pen,
chalk, etc. As of the launch of 0x.co, there is no longer any reason to ever
use a QR code again. _You 're welcome._"

[1] [https://0x.co](https://0x.co)

[2] There is a FAQ but also a "HN FAQ" with more technical, implementation-
minded Q&A: [https://0x.co/hnfaq.html](https://0x.co/hnfaq.html)

~~~
teddyh
That’s basically an URL shortener without the URL part. A centralized service
to store all your codes and the logs of all accesses. In short, a twitter for
pastebin. No thanks.

~~~
pishpash
Store all your messages with a random site, what could possibly go wrong?

~~~
rsync
"Store all your messages with a random site, what could possibly go wrong?"

We don't think of it as storage - although you can indeed use it as such. We
think of it as messaging. Oh By gives you a way to send messages to unknown
people at unknown future dates _which don 't require any special tooling
(apps) to decode_.

You can just take a piece of chalk and write your message on the sidewalk.

As for longevity, I think we have a good track record having run rsync.net for
16 years now.

------
fhood
Can someone explain to me what the advantages of QR codes are over bar codes
or other similar methods?

~~~
taeric
I'm assuming the largest advantage is just the amount of data they can hold.
One of the top google results[1] indicates that 1d bar codes can hold ~100
characters, while 2d ones can hold ~2000 characters.

There is also a bit of artistic freedom you can do with the 2d ones. They
really aren't as ugly as the 1d ones. Especially if you use them to "frame"
something. Note, still not pretty, per se. Just not as ugly.

[1] [http://support.idautomation.com/Barcode-Learning/How-much-
da...](http://support.idautomation.com/Barcode-Learning/How-much-data-can-a-
barcode-hold/_2148)

~~~
j_s
Animated GIF qr code
[https://github.com/sylnsfar/qrcode](https://github.com/sylnsfar/qrcode)

------
drawkbox
QR codes are making a blip comeback mainly because people have their cameras
on more for augmented reality and computer vision will be more and more used.

Before you had to actually open up an app to scan one, now you might already
be in an app that is constantly scanning for AR targets, UPC, QR codes etc. In
a few apps we have done that use AR for retail they look for AR
targets/trackers, cloud targets, marks, UPC, qr codes, and more.

Along those lines, Vuforia AR has VuMarks[1] that are replacements for their
framemarker targets (similar to QR codes) that are further on the mark
detection.

With augmented experiences we'll definitely be scanning more with cameras
already on in the future. So there will be more marks/scannables out there.

[1]
[https://library.vuforia.com/articles/Training/VuMark](https://library.vuforia.com/articles/Training/VuMark)

------
pishpash
Phone OS's not having built-in QR code readers suppressed the usefulness of QR
codes. It was maybe for security reasons, if so that also points to a problem
with the protocol.

~~~
digi_owl
The only way it would be a security risk would be if it tossed the content
right into a browser or similar.

It it was presented in plain text for the user to see before taking any
action, there would be no more risk than any other printed URL (unless the
very scanning app has issues, but then that is a very different rabbit hole).

------
shpx
QR codes are just (ugly) reminders that we _still_ haven't figured out how to
do optical character recognition.

You're scanning a human-readable QR code right now.

------
petraeus
How can something that never left .. come back?

~~~
mmjaa
Context. They're not so wide-spread in some countries (perhaps the America-
centric countries) and yet still quite extant throughout the rest of the
world. Local context is everything.

------
pmlnr
So... silicon valley is copying China? Nice.

BTW QR codes are awesome, no sarcasm.

~~~
astrodust
Robot barf on everything.

~~~
pmlnr
Sure, mate, robot. And it's kind of the case: if you read the article it
starts with when x in 2014 in China ... WeChat...

~~~
astrodust
WeChat doesn't always have a QR code showing. The idea is it shows up when you
need it. If NFC takes over some day, so long QR codes.

