4 ms·

As I understand it, a QR code is just a URL. If we were to have standardized font that had distinct characters (there are plenty), it would be no harder for a

As I understand it, a QR code is just a URL. If we were to have standardized font that had distinct characters (there are plenty), it would be no harder for a computer to scan and understand than a qr code, and would take less space on the packaging or app. The only reason that QR codes are a thing is that, by virtue of them not being human readable, you can put in minutae for tracking, the user doesn't realize what they are getting into, and the user can't modify it to remove offensive parts (like stripping out all the gook in a nGoogle search result URL). All complaints about tinyURLs in their time are vaid for QR, and then some. If there was some way to push at least the "good" companies, (like, um... ) to use a url instead of a code... but I fear that boat has sailed.

zeepzeep 5y ago
Reading urls even with a standard font is way way harder than reading a QR (for computers). Often when you see a QR code they will print the url below.
- jaclaz 5y ago
  >Often when you see a QR code they will print the url below. But there is nothing telling you that the QR code is corresponding to the text, for the casual user, a tricky QR code with an URL printed below could be even more deceiving, I mean, say you know the possible issue, manually type the printed URL that seems legit and it is actually legit, someone queueing behind you scans the QR code and bam, he/she gets the "bad" site instead. (I am thinking, there was a post some time ago about parking lots where paying for the parking was through QR codes that were replaced by "bad" ones).
  - zeepzeep 5y ago
    Yes but I could also just sticker my lookalike url over that
hunterb123 5y ago
QR codes can hold arbitrary data (binary, contact info, etc.) and has error correction (you can lose part of it due to sun bleaching, tearing, etc. and it still scans). https://blog.qrstuff.com/2011/12/14/qr-code-error-correction https://blog.qrstuff.com/2011/12/14/qr-code-error-correction It's a wonderful technology.
needle0 5y ago
It can also cram all that data into only a few square centimeters, which is a godsend in places like packaging, where every square mm is precious.
berkes 5y ago
> If we were to have standardized font that had distinct characters In addition you'll need checksums to detect folds or scratches on the print. E.g. when the "m" in pets.com is scratched. QR codes have that. You'll want fallbacks for such wear and tear. QR codes can have that (depending on settings when creating, it will repeat the pattern multiple times). You'll need unicode support for all languages in the world (QR is just bits). You'll need to handle (bi)direction (Again: QR is just bits and bytes). And when you have all that, the solution suffers from the exact same problems as what QR "suffers" from. I, human, cannot read an arab unicode URL that is repeated for redundancy (and one of the three is malicious) or understand the checksums.

zeepzeep 5y ago

Reading urls even with a standard font is way way harder than reading a QR (for computers). Often when you see a QR code they will print the url below.

jaclaz 5y ago
>Often when you see a QR code they will print the url below. But there is nothing telling you that the QR code is corresponding to the text, for the casual user, a tricky QR code with an URL printed below could be even more deceiving, I mean, say you know the possible issue, manually type the printed URL that seems legit and it is actually legit, someone queueing behind you scans the QR code and bam, he/she gets the "bad" site instead. (I am thinking, there was a post some time ago about parking lots where paying for the parking was through QR codes that were replaced by "bad" ones).
- zeepzeep 5y ago
  Yes but I could also just sticker my lookalike url over that

hunterb123 5y ago

QR codes can hold arbitrary data (binary, contact info, etc.) and has error correction (you can lose part of it due to sun bleaching, tearing, etc. and it still scans). https://blog.qrstuff.com/2011/12/14/qr-code-error-correction https://blog.qrstuff.com/2011/12/14/qr-code-error-correction It's a wonderful technology.

needle0 5y ago

It can also cram all that data into only a few square centimeters, which is a godsend in places like packaging, where every square mm is precious.

berkes 5y ago

> If we were to have standardized font that had distinct characters In addition you'll need checksums to detect folds or scratches on the print. E.g. when the "m" in pets.com is scratched. QR codes have that. You'll want fallbacks for such wear and tear. QR codes can have that (depending on settings when creating, it will repeat the pattern multiple times). You'll need unicode support for all languages in the world (QR is just bits). You'll need to handle (bi)direction (Again: QR is just bits and bytes). And when you have all that, the solution suffers from the exact same problems as what QR "suffers" from. I, human, cannot read an arab unicode URL that is repeated for redundancy (and one of the three is malicious) or understand the checksums.