5 ms·

Those numbers have to be very low now that we are post 2020.

AlecSchueler 3y ago
Really? I've been in the tech world for over a decade but think I've personally scanned only a single QR code in the wild. For people outside our bubble they basically don't exist, though I'll admit this is probably quite location dependant.
- n4r9 3y ago
  In the UK during lockdown they became quite common as a way of ordering food to your table in a restaurant or pub. I think that's the only time I use them though.
- lbotos 3y ago
  I’m sitting here eating a chicken katsu curry in London and each seat at the bar has a QR code to scan and see the menu. For the past 3 years a lot of restaurants switched to QR based menus for obvious reasons. So I’d wager to say that anyone that went out to eat in the last 3 years has interacted with at least a handful of QR scans :) I’ve also seen hotels adopt “scan this code to get our WI-FI details”. Which is a pretty seamless experience and great
  - NikolaNovak 3y ago
    Oh I SEE qr codes everywhere. But I never see anybody using them. People do, obviously, but most of my friends and family never have.
  - blamazon 3y ago
    For 3 years, when confronted with such a scenario, the people in my life who dislike QR codes have theatrically said something like "what are these stupid computer squares! I want a paper menu damn it!" Whereupon the staff and I share a knowing look, everyone rolls their eyes, and a paper menu is brought forth.
    - stronglikedan 3y ago
      I always ask for a paper menu. Why should I trust them enough to visit an unknown URL on my personal device? Why should they trust the 3rd party service they're likely using to not be malicious? Why should I even be arsed to pull my phone out of my pocket? Plus, paper menus are way easier to see and navigate. Of course, most people aren't "theatrical about it", but I suppose there are a few that are.
      - blamazon 3y ago
        Very true and valid points! I'm just not that security conscious with my mobile device I guess. I go to all sorts of unknown URLs on this thing all the time. It's practically the only thing I do with this thing. To be clear, the eye rolling is about the theatricality of my family members' behavior rather than the request for a paper menu. I would also add to the benefits of the paper menus that it's much more socially cohesive than everyone at the table sitting around staring at their phones, even if there's a common reason to do so.
    - NikolaNovak 3y ago
      FWIW - I wouldn't call them "stupid computer squares", but I would be even more snarky and sarcastic and say "Oh... I thought I visited a restaurant, not fast food / door dash / uber eats. Am I in the wrong place? So sorry!" :P Seriously - if I want food efficiently and robotically, there are many ways to obtain that. If I'm going to a restaurant with my friends, it's to pay too much money for a modicum of a social experience :P. I don't want to spend first 5 minutes trying to get QR code to work, then next 10 minutes trying to read a menu on 5" screen (usually with poor scrolling and ads and whatnot, sometimes they make me install an app I'll never use again, etc), then another 5 min trying to order on a phone. I do not want to pay for anti-social experience. I DEFINITELY don't want my kids to try to figure out their food on my phone :D I may be a cranky old grouch, and you're welcome to roll your eyes at me, but gimme a 20" menu rather than a poorly made bespoke 5" app :-/
  - vel0city 3y ago
    I've even been to a few restaurants where they go a step further. Each table's QR code is unique and you can see the current tab for the table. You can then split and pay the check straight from that QR code. Pretty nice.
    - lbotos 3y ago
      Heh. I just experienced that when I paid at the restaurant above! It was powered by Sunday https://sundayapp.com/en-gb/ https://sundayapp.com/en-gb/
- xeromal 3y ago
  They became popular in LA during 'Rona. They're still around in a lot of places but definitely less. We like real menus.
NikolaNovak 3y ago
I am an it professional. I've used qr codes maybe... 6 times, ever? With probably 50% success rate before I give up. I know for a fact that literally nobody else in my in law family of middle class Canadians has ever used a single one. Anecdata of course, but if we're sharing assumptions... :-)
- basch 3y ago
  If you were out at all during / after Covid, restaurant menus were all QR codes on tables around me. They are on posters all over. Commonly used for sign-ups and event entrance. It’s a mid assumption to think they are more popular in tech circles, I actually think the reverse is true.
  - bdw5204 3y ago
    There's a reason why restaurants quickly returned to physical menus: most of their customers hated QR code menus and the restaurant business is extremely competitive so you have to be responsive to what customers want to stay in business. It's only in markets that lack competition that a company can do unpopular changes that reduce its costs without losing customers. For example, stadiums all went cashless "for your safety" and then never brought cash back. Which they can do for the same reason they can charge $5 or more for a bottle of water: they're basically a monopoly with a large captive audience.
    - KineticLensman 3y ago
      One issue with QR codes in restaurants is that they force everyone to get on their phones which is sometimes exactly what you are trying to avoid by going out in the first place
      - cozzyd 3y ago
        Or your phone can die... I went to a place recently where you ordered on your phone and it kept your tab open until you closed it... I had to race against my phone dying to pay.
sumtechguy 3y ago
Tech changes decently quickly so sometimes it is easy to just stick with what you know. Today I was standing in my driveway trying to open the garage door with my phone. After about a min of going thru random menus and whatever I said 'whatever' and just went thru the house and pushed the button. I will figure it out when I am not in a rush. Also you hand me a QR code I am going to be a little annoyed but also grateful at the same time. The annoying part is getting out the app to do it. The grateful part is not having to type something like that into the tiny interfaces we like to use for phones. Also time to share one of my favorite shortcuts I use all the time. ctrl enter while in the title bar will add https://www https://www. and the .com bit on the end of any string. Works in firefox and chrome.
- basch 3y ago
  On iPhones you swipe right from the Lock Screen. Android has a shortcut to double tap the power button. I don’t know if I ever go searching for an app to open a QR code.
  - sumtechguy 3y ago
    Think both of those actions are open camera app?
    - basch 3y ago
      And then you point the camera app at the QR code, and then click the link that appears over the QR code. Neither Apple nor Android require a QR code reader app.

Really? I've been in the tech world for over a decade but think I've personally scanned only a single QR code in the wild. For people outside our bubble they basically don't exist, though I'll admit this is probably quite location dependant.

n4r9 3y ago
In the UK during lockdown they became quite common as a way of ordering food to your table in a restaurant or pub. I think that's the only time I use them though.
lbotos 3y ago
I’m sitting here eating a chicken katsu curry in London and each seat at the bar has a QR code to scan and see the menu. For the past 3 years a lot of restaurants switched to QR based menus for obvious reasons. So I’d wager to say that anyone that went out to eat in the last 3 years has interacted with at least a handful of QR scans :) I’ve also seen hotels adopt “scan this code to get our WI-FI details”. Which is a pretty seamless experience and great
- NikolaNovak 3y ago
  Oh I SEE qr codes everywhere. But I never see anybody using them. People do, obviously, but most of my friends and family never have.
- blamazon 3y ago
  For 3 years, when confronted with such a scenario, the people in my life who dislike QR codes have theatrically said something like "what are these stupid computer squares! I want a paper menu damn it!" Whereupon the staff and I share a knowing look, everyone rolls their eyes, and a paper menu is brought forth.
  - stronglikedan 3y ago
    I always ask for a paper menu. Why should I trust them enough to visit an unknown URL on my personal device? Why should they trust the 3rd party service they're likely using to not be malicious? Why should I even be arsed to pull my phone out of my pocket? Plus, paper menus are way easier to see and navigate. Of course, most people aren't "theatrical about it", but I suppose there are a few that are.
    - blamazon 3y ago
      Very true and valid points! I'm just not that security conscious with my mobile device I guess. I go to all sorts of unknown URLs on this thing all the time. It's practically the only thing I do with this thing. To be clear, the eye rolling is about the theatricality of my family members' behavior rather than the request for a paper menu. I would also add to the benefits of the paper menus that it's much more socially cohesive than everyone at the table sitting around staring at their phones, even if there's a common reason to do so.
  - NikolaNovak 3y ago
    FWIW - I wouldn't call them "stupid computer squares", but I would be even more snarky and sarcastic and say "Oh... I thought I visited a restaurant, not fast food / door dash / uber eats. Am I in the wrong place? So sorry!" :P Seriously - if I want food efficiently and robotically, there are many ways to obtain that. If I'm going to a restaurant with my friends, it's to pay too much money for a modicum of a social experience :P. I don't want to spend first 5 minutes trying to get QR code to work, then next 10 minutes trying to read a menu on 5" screen (usually with poor scrolling and ads and whatnot, sometimes they make me install an app I'll never use again, etc), then another 5 min trying to order on a phone. I do not want to pay for anti-social experience. I DEFINITELY don't want my kids to try to figure out their food on my phone :D I may be a cranky old grouch, and you're welcome to roll your eyes at me, but gimme a 20" menu rather than a poorly made bespoke 5" app :-/
- vel0city 3y ago
  I've even been to a few restaurants where they go a step further. Each table's QR code is unique and you can see the current tab for the table. You can then split and pay the check straight from that QR code. Pretty nice.
  - lbotos 3y ago
    Heh. I just experienced that when I paid at the restaurant above! It was powered by Sunday https://sundayapp.com/en-gb/ https://sundayapp.com/en-gb/
xeromal 3y ago
They became popular in LA during 'Rona. They're still around in a lot of places but definitely less. We like real menus.

NikolaNovak 3y ago

I am an it professional. I've used qr codes maybe... 6 times, ever? With probably 50% success rate before I give up. I know for a fact that literally nobody else in my in law family of middle class Canadians has ever used a single one. Anecdata of course, but if we're sharing assumptions... :-)

basch 3y ago
If you were out at all during / after Covid, restaurant menus were all QR codes on tables around me. They are on posters all over. Commonly used for sign-ups and event entrance. It’s a mid assumption to think they are more popular in tech circles, I actually think the reverse is true.
- bdw5204 3y ago
  There's a reason why restaurants quickly returned to physical menus: most of their customers hated QR code menus and the restaurant business is extremely competitive so you have to be responsive to what customers want to stay in business. It's only in markets that lack competition that a company can do unpopular changes that reduce its costs without losing customers. For example, stadiums all went cashless "for your safety" and then never brought cash back. Which they can do for the same reason they can charge $5 or more for a bottle of water: they're basically a monopoly with a large captive audience.
  - KineticLensman 3y ago
    One issue with QR codes in restaurants is that they force everyone to get on their phones which is sometimes exactly what you are trying to avoid by going out in the first place
    - cozzyd 3y ago
      Or your phone can die... I went to a place recently where you ordered on your phone and it kept your tab open until you closed it... I had to race against my phone dying to pay.

sumtechguy 3y ago

Tech changes decently quickly so sometimes it is easy to just stick with what you know. Today I was standing in my driveway trying to open the garage door with my phone. After about a min of going thru random menus and whatever I said 'whatever' and just went thru the house and pushed the button. I will figure it out when I am not in a rush. Also you hand me a QR code I am going to be a little annoyed but also grateful at the same time. The annoying part is getting out the app to do it. The grateful part is not having to type something like that into the tiny interfaces we like to use for phones. Also time to share one of my favorite shortcuts I use all the time. ctrl enter while in the title bar will add https://www https://www. and the .com bit on the end of any string. Works in firefox and chrome.

basch 3y ago
On iPhones you swipe right from the Lock Screen. Android has a shortcut to double tap the power button. I don’t know if I ever go searching for an app to open a QR code.
- sumtechguy 3y ago
  Think both of those actions are open camera app?
  - basch 3y ago
    And then you point the camera app at the QR code, and then click the link that appears over the QR code. Neither Apple nor Android require a QR code reader app.