QR Codes Explained: How They Work and Why They're Everywhere

[Julio Franco]

QR codes were built to track car parts, written off as a gimmick, then rescued by phone cameras. Now they're everywhere. Here's how they work, what's changed, and what to watch out for.

Read the full article here.

QR Codes Explained: How They Work and Why They're Everywhere

 

[gamoniac]

A nice read. Thank you, Mark. Keep them coming.

 

[p51d007]

I created one I keep on my phone that has my company name, my name, phone number, email address and company website. It's my "business card". Someone wants the info, they just scan a photo of the QR code.

 

[petert]

Wildly used in wechat for contact exchanging, epayment or website redirection. Not sure if facebook's app has this feature. Still used in decent Chinese factories to track each piece on the assembly line.

 

[floor board]

Well... the more you know

 

[NumberNine]

It's a 2D barcode, next article.

 

[Alpine7995]

I had no idea the three big corner squares came from engineers looking for a black-to-white pattern that basically never appeared in printed material. That's one of those elegant engineering decisions you use every day without realizing anyone had to invent it.

 

[airbornex]

QR codes might be the rare technology that went from futuristic, to deeply uncool, to almost invisible infrastructure without fundamentally changing. The real killer feature turned out to be Apple and Google finally putting the scanner directly in the camera app.

 

[Win7user]

For the time being, I'll just pay with a check, cash, or my credit card. I don't own a Smartphone anyway.

 

[BadThad]

One of the best inventions ever but you have to be smart about scanning them. I'm so over barcodes, end them now!

This is an excellent video on QR's, you'll be an expert after watching:

Great article guys!

 

[BadThad]

I created one I keep on my phone that has my company name, my name, phone number, email address and company website. It's my "business card". Someone wants the info, they just scan a photo of the QR code.

Pure GENIUS!

 

[BadThad]

QR codes might be the rare technology that went from futuristic, to deeply uncool, to almost invisible infrastructure without fundamentally changing. The real killer feature turned out to be Apple and Google finally putting the scanner directly in the camera app.

Soooo convenient! I use the QR scanner frequently.