What Are QR Codes


by Mark Boardman


They are a 2 dimensional code that can be scanned by a smartphone to automatically pull up information such as URLs, phone number, videos, photographs, music, text etc. QR stands for 'Quick Response' and were first developed in Japan by a company called Denso-Wave in 1994.

Basically QR codes are usually two dimensional bar codes that are understood both vertically and also horizontally. The codes consist of a control grid of tiny squares. This allows for far more information to be encoded in a much smaller area than a traditional bar coding system. Codes are usually read by smartphones and QR scanners.

At first they were utilised to track car parts in Japan, where are usually very widespread, however, today they have a far wider industrial use within our digital world. They can be added to a business card or an email to send someone with a reader straight to your page. So, whereas a bar coding system pretty much can only identify a product and needs a special device to be scanned, QR codes can embed far more data as well as trigger an action for instance downloading a music file or launching a page straight with your phone. Imagine how easy this will make it for someone to go to your page, without the bother of actually typing in the url, especially useful if you have a less than memorable or difficult to spell web address.

Some popular uses of QR codes: Contact data - add all a person's contact info including phones numbers, business office address, page and e-mail Name tags: Add all your info to a name tag at a conference as well as colleagues can easily scan it to download all a details. Art: Street artist Banksy has a piece of work in a disused railroad tunnel in London which includes a QR computer code, when scanned this codification takes you directly to his Wikipedia web page. Store Windows: In the US Google is distributing code decals to small businesses with Google Places, to be positioned in the store windows for passers-by to scan.

QR codes are usually still somewhat alien to many persons, so make it a little easier for them by adding something of worth. Don't just deliver them to a page when scanned, maybe send them to a special offer web page, just for registered users of the codes , add something of worth to inspire a person's users.

Whatever you decide to do enjoy using your codes and start being creative as they are likely to become extremely popular as more and more people surf the net on smartphones.




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