Why all the phone barcode things suddenly?

[WatcherZero]

I work at Waterstones and we now wear one on a lanyard so if we see people in store with a smart phone we can ask if they want to scan it and be taken to our mobile site!!

You walk into a book shop and someone comes up and asks you if you would like to try out their website? Sheesh im there because I DONT want to use a website.

 

[HST Power]

Well OxtedL has ditched his barcode so the revolution of things that scan could be over!

 

[Deerfold]

Mine is a protest against itself.

 

[jon0844]

I work at Waterstones and we now wear one on a lanyard so if we see people in store with a smart phone we can ask if they want to scan it and be taken to our mobile site!!

That's bad. I mean, it's fine for the customer, but not for you.

"Hello Sir/Madam, would you like to scan this QR code and go to our mobile site so you can shop there instead, meaning I will be out of a job this time next week when the store closes and everything goes online only?"

It's like people in supermarkets asking customers to use the self checkouts because they're faster (save for another argument about if it is faster or not). Management are asking these people to effectively do themselves out of a job. I'm sure that when they get rid of the staffed tills, they'll also axe the job where someone invites people to scan themselves!

Anyway, QR codes are useful although I do think that sometimes it's silly to get someone to scan a code on the tube, to get a URL that they can't access because there's no signal. If the app doesn't have a history, or offer to put it your bookmarks, you'll simply ignore it. And if you did save it in your bookmarks, would you remember to go to it again later?

NFC will do away with needing to scan anything, which is fine too, but I am sure they'll still only send text or links. What you need is an updated version that can send much more data to a device in the short space of time you're waving the phone over it - as in a matter of a second or less.

When this comes, you can then download a self-contained app (the phone even able to tell the chip to send specific code for that device/platform), images or even a video. I think that this is a little way off though, although I have seen some trials that are pretty impressive.

You walk into a book shop and someone comes up and asks you if you would like to try out their website? Sheesh im there because I DONT want to use a website.

I think it is totally unfair that staff are often made to do things that could affect their own job. The problem is, there's probably some manager overlooking staff that would be moaning if the public weren't made to have a barcode thrown into the face of a customer.

I bet people in WH Smith hate having to ask everyone buying a newspaper, magazine or a packet of crisps if they'd like to buy a bar of chocolate for £1 or whatever else they've got stacked up on the counter, or staff in a clothes shop asking if you'd like to not pay with the cash you've already got in your hand but sign up for a store card at 3000% APR to get 10% off.

 

[HST Power]

if you'd like to not pay with the cash you've already got in your hand but sign up for a store card at 3000% APR to get 10% off.

Only 3000%?

 

[Daimler]

First Great Western have put up posters at stations with lots of QR codes on them linking to download links for their various pocket timetables - a great idea!

 

[jon0844]

Yeah, a special promotion - 3000% for the first six months, then it rises to a 30,000%!

 

[trentside]

First Great Western have put up posters at stations with lots of QR codes on them linking to download links for their various pocket timetables - a great idea!

That really is a fantastic idea. I find that TOC websites are often hard to navigate on my phone, so a direct link to the timetable is really useful. Let's hope this idea spreads further.

 

[SS4]

Why not xD

 

[OxtedL]

Oh my god...

 

[HST Power]

Oh my god...

You've got a barcode again!!!

 

[Mojo]

My 'phone just exploded...

 

[HST Power]

My 'phone just exploded...

Barcode overload?

 

[OxtedL]

If you can decode it HST, there's a little Easter egg for you there...

 

[trentside]

Just found one of these on a packet containing cheese. It wouldn't scan, but really, why?

 

[OxtedL]

We're British. All new technology is both loved and hated passionately. Often at the same time.

 

[jon0844]

Barcodes have been around for ages, and QR codes were very popular in places like Japan. Now, thanks to smartphones and decent cameras, they're becoming more popular here.

There are valid uses, like printing postage at home for the Royal Mail, or on letters to make it easy to scan addresses without using OCR (or having to manually copy data that could be mistyped).

And, of course, the most important of all, to wind up those who can't decode them.

 

[SS4]

Plain text, you can all try harder than that!

 

[bb21]

I must say that I am pretty disappointed. One week away from this website and see what I find when I get back ...

Now I blame you Mojo. As the moderator, you were fully aware of the childish behaviour that manifest itself amongst the lowlifes on here that have no self-control, and yet ...

Oh what the heck ...

 

[jon0844]

I feel for anyone viewing this forum ON their phone and trying to figure out a way of taking a photo of the screen!

 

[43021HST]

Argh you lot quit with all the barcodes your scaring us technophobes, I'm only 16 yet I feel I cant keep up with technology, Whats happening!!!!! Technology is prematurely aging us!

I have bought a HTC smart phone yet I cant get a hang of the bloody touch screen on it and some of the stuff on there is beyond me, anyone else have similar problems?

 

[MCR247]

I feel for anyone viewing this forum ON their phone and trying to figure out a way of taking a photo of the screen!

You can on iPhones/iPod touches, so I'm good

 

[Techniquest]

The barcode things used as avatars and general silliness just annoys me. The Waterstones thing would also annoy the hell out of me, I'd hate to have to do that as a member of staff. We have enough of a job at Asda without ever needing to do that, although it won't be long until management think it to be a great idea...

The self scan tills, don't get me started on that. We had several apologies broadcast in our store last night due to the queues - no, I must resist ranting...! - and customers being directed to the 10 self scan tills we have. Of which only 6 were working. Seriously, why the fuss over having to queue for a few minutes?

The barcodes thing then, on the timetable posters as I noticed on the FGW one at Hereford recently is a brilliant idea. If I had a smartphone, I'd find that sort of thing extremely useful, although I'd miss the fun of reading through a paper timetable at least for a while. In the meantime, I'm happy enough with my basic Samsung mobile that doesn't have mobile Internet or even a camera!

 

[jon0844]

You can on iPhones/iPod touches, so I'm good

Do you mean a screengrab? Or do you mean Safari actually decodes the barcode on the page? Having a screen capture doesn't make it any easier to take a photo of the screen (for the purpose of scanning a QR code), unless you're going to print it and then scan that with your camera!

 

[Wyvern]

Do you mean a screengrab? Or do you mean Safari actually decodes the barcode on the page? Having a screen capture doesn't make it any easier to take a photo of the screen (for the purpose of scanning a QR code), unless you're going to print it and then scan that with your camera!

Not quite sure what you are saying here. You use the camera's phone to photograph the QR code, then use an app such as ScanLife to scan it and decode it.

If the text it contains is a hyperlink you can click on that to go to the web page such as Wikipedia's write-up on Joseph Wright's "The Orrery" if you are in Derby Museum and Art Gallery looking at it.

 

[SS4]

Argh you lot quit with all the barcodes your scaring us technophobes, I'm only 16 yet I feel I cant keep up with technology, Whats happening!!!!! Technology is prematurely aging us!

I have bought a HTC smart phone yet I cant get a hang of the bloody touch screen on it and some of the stuff on there is beyond me, anyone else have similar problems?

HTC Sense is very chunky but it is also well featured. What I didn't like was all the useless apps that come preinstalled.

Technology is moving too quickly at the moment, it's almost a running joke that Apple will have the iPhone [sic] (x+1) six months after the release of the current iPhone [sic]

 

[Deerfold]

I feel for anyone viewing this forum ON their phone and trying to figure out a way of taking a photo of the screen!

Easy. Two phones

 

[OxtedL]

Technology is moving too quickly at the moment, it's almost a running joke that Apple will have the iPhone [sic] (x+1) six months after the release of the current iPhone [sic]

You are one of the many people who think that iPhones are "sic" then?

 

[SS4]

You are one of the many people who think that iPhones are "sic" then?

Only in it's most literal sense - iPhone is horrible grammar, much worse than should of

 

[transportphoto]

Decoder: http://zxing.org/w/decode.jspx