How QR Codes Work and Why They Suck So Hard

QR codes are a technology that desperately wants our attention. They appear everywhere from supermarket shelves and magazines to hiking trails and tombstones. Never heard of a QR code? You're looking at one right now. Scan the image at the top of this article, and it'll open a link to the mobile version...of this…

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Definitive Proof That Robots and QR Codes Are Not the Future of…

It's generally assumed that robots will eventually take over all jobs currently staffed by humans. But tending bar could be one of the hold outs, if this Social Drink Machine is any indication. It lets patrons place orders through a combination of social media, mobile apps, and QR codes, but in this case the whole…

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At Least This QR Code Clock Appreciates How Useless It Is

For all intents and purposes QR codes are a dead technology only being kept alive by marketing machine life support. For some reason advertising types think it's easier for consumers to snap a photo of a pixelated square than remember a URL, but as Michael Ciuffo points out with his obfuscated QR code clock, it's a…

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Acoustic Barcodes Are Probably Super Popular In Some Alternate Universe

With technology like NFC on the rise, you might think the humble barcode might not be long for this world. As it turns out, that old medium has at least one more trick up its sleeve. Going tactile and operating with sound just might be what it takes to make barcodes cool (again?).

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Whoa, An Actually Useful Way to Use QR Codes (Or: A Lazy Parent's List…

So Target has done the impossible. It's used QR codes in a way that is so useful that it actually outweighs how goofy, unwieldy, and ineffectual they are. It does this by, essentially, by simplifying something even worse: Holiday shopping at Target.

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Those Who Wear a QR Code T-Shirt Deserve Nothing But Ridicule

Hopefully this is some kind of unfunny joke, but there is now a line of QR code clothing. Yeah, that's right. QRTribe (that's a real name) makes hoodies, purses, and t-shirts all with these ugly things that no one uses printed on them. When you scan them they'll take you to a page that has links to all of your social…

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This Augmented Reality App Is the Final Nail in the QR Code's Hideous…

Just about everyone except for inept marketers can agree that QR codes are terrible and useless. That being said, there's not really a better alternative if you're looking to implement augmented-reality on the cheap. Until now, thanks to Layar's new page-scanning smartphone app.

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This Entire Town Is Plastered with QR Codes That Link to Wikipedia

Usually I hate QR codes. They're ugly technology needlessly solving non-problems in a flawed attempt to be futuristic. Even worse, people plaster them on the dumbest things: bikinis, burqas, butts, etc. And now, setting a new low, they've painted a whole town with QR codes. There are literally over a 1,000 QR codes…

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