QR Code Review: VIDEO!!!!!!!

Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video. Video.

If you know nothing else. If you lack even the tiniest creative spark. If you can't think anything to link with your QR codes, remember: VIDEO.

The April Consumer Reports magazine is one of the most anticipated issues of the year at our library. People who never visit the library will come in just to see which cars are recommended to buy. And to avoid.

So I was really excited to see this on the latest cover: "NEW! Scan for test videos." And the magazine has 12 QR codes on the first few pages that link to car test videos.

The bad news is that they are all in mp4 format. Which doesn't play on my phone. The code on the cover scans to http://tiny.cc/swxkj which expands to http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/resources/streaming/qr/april2012/behind-scenes.mp4
Also, the videos I tested run between 6mb and 17mb which isn't too terrible, but I'd recommend keeping the file size on the small end.

But still, it's video. So if you want to use QR codes, the best place to start is with video. Record your message and link to it. If you get this one thing right, then you won't ever need to learn anything else about QR codes.

But try to make it in .avi or .flv another generic format that all phones can view. Or else wait until I install an mp4 decoder.

QR Code Review: Love for Black Enterprise

I'll admit this is hilarious, Pictures of People Scanning QR-codes.

But it's not accurate. You can see lots of pictures of people scanning by searching, http://www.google.com/search?q=pictures+of+people+scanning+qr+codes

But it's pretty stupid when I hear about what a dead technology QR codes are.

It's like if someone kept saying that staplers were dead: Staplers are obsolete. More people use paper clips than staplers.

You'd think that person is an idiot. A staple and a paper clip both fasten paper, but one punches holes in the paper and the other doesn't. So one is used as a more permanent fastener and the other isn't.

The same with QR codes. Everyone is saying not to use them, that are obsolete. But these people don't seem to understand that obsolescence has nothing to do with usefulness. QR codes are great at what they do. They are incredibly useful. The only thing wrong with QR codes is that not enough people use them. So it's not the failure of the code, but a failure to educate the users.

So it's great to see this month's (March 2012) cover of Black Enterprise. There are QR codes all over it.


The downside is that the red code does not go to a mobile page. It scans to http://tagr.com/t/V3j4ds which directs to http://www.blackenterprise.com/2012/02/28/are-you-a-woman-behaving-wealthy/ which is a survey that is not mobile-ready.

The blue code points to http://tagr.com/t/V3j4dw which takes you to a mobile page which looks good on my phone.

And the purple code says it will take me to a video, http://tagr.com/t/V3j4d8, but instead I see a mobile page where the video might be posted later.

And if the codes are too colorful to scan from the cover, they reprinted them inside with brief explanations on what you'll see when you scan.

This is what publishers need to do is to educate and promote the use of the codes. And soon they'll be as ubiquitous as staples. Or paper clips.

QR Code Review: L'Oréal, minus 10 for style

See, this is what is killing QR code use in America. Here is an ad that clearly shows a product called Magic Lumi and what it does to help make your face extra purty. And when I see the code, I cheer because I think, Wow, now I can finally learn how to apply foundation and concealer to cover up these dark circles under my eyes that I get from looking at the computer screen all day.

But I guess not. Scan the code to get HTTP://SCN.BY/9T9AB0HTW8GNRC which resolved to http://www.yourstyleyourstudio.com/howto?cid=studio_qr_studioline_120611_howto_1x1 which is not at all mobile friendly since the images are the same ones as on the regular web page, only much much much smaller. And worse, the flash video won't play on my Android phone.

But when it plays on my pc, I don't see any information about make-up, but only hair care products which is not anything like what the code promised me. Yes, it's fabulous that I can Learn how to get the top Studio Line hair looks with expert stylist Johnny Lavoy. Because Johnny looks like he knows everything about my hair. But the ad wasn't about hair; it was about face. So L'Oréal, what about my face?

So, if don't learn this lesson, people are not going to scan your codes. Stop linking your codes to crap. Don't link to stuff that does not work on my phone and don't link to stuff that is unrelated to what you say it is. The image says, "Scan here for application tips and tricks" and I got nothing. So why should I trust you next time?

Yes, this is just about some make-up that you probably don't care about, but the lesson is the same. It doesn't matter from where you learn it. Just learn it.

The Death of the Death of QR Codes

People keep talking about the death of QR codes. "Oh, look, some new phone works with 'near field communications' chips and maybe one retailer in Chicago has the transmitter/receiver to talk to it, Oooooooh."

Or maybe there's some other new thing; it doesn't matter what it is, they (those people who want to be the first to predict the death of everything) are always hammering the first nail into the coffins of everything.

The biggest complaint I read from every coffin-nailer about QR Codes is that you need to open the app to scan the code. WTF? Everyone has 100 apps on their phones and they regularly open and close them to do stuff. But for some reason, the line over which no man shall pass was drawn at the QR code reader app.

One article complained that it was too difficult to fit the code within the app's tiny focus box... WELL THEN YOU HAVE THE WRONG APP. The app on my phone uses about 75% of my screen and it's nearly impossible to NOT scan the code. I would need to be actually falling, tumbling down the stairs, head over heels, for the app to not work. And that's only because I switched apps so I could take video of myself falling to put on YouTube. "Oh, man, check out this video this guy took of himself falling down the stairs. Oh, man, is that his tooth? Did you hear his spine snap? Is that blood on the screen? I'm forwarding this to everyone."

This is nitpicking because we all fiddle with our phones all day long, enabling and disabling GPS, Bluetooth, muting the sound while we play Temple Run, and asking Siri what she's wearing today.

But the biggest ACTUAL USEFUL ACCURATE complaint is that many codes simply link to crap. I don't need to describe what crap is in this post because I have enough reviews that point to examples. In fact, I might go back and relabel them all with the word crap. What marketers fail to accept is that the mobile user is enormously fickle and disloyal. Everyone is always looking for the next hot trend, and trends, by definition, are not loyal to any product or image or brand. Not everyone who uses a QR code is hip to what attracts customers. And they make the rest of us look bad.

The reality is that if QR codes don't survive as an essential marketing tool because they get surpassed by something better, that something is still going to require you to fiddle with your phone to make it work. You will snap a photo, or enable communication between a payment system, or whatever.

Because no one can afford to leave an app that accesses the camera running all day long; it just sucks the battery dry. Same thing if it's a chip that broadcasts a signal. And if it's a chip or app that links to any payment system, you're only going to enable it when you are actually paying because if you leave it running all day, someone is going to find a way to exploit it and steal your money through your phone.

Now, given that I've just argued against the death of QR codes, let me point out they have limitations that could lead to their inevitable demise. The truth is that any middleman application is doomed at some point. And the QR code is essentially a middleman. It's a broker, negotiating the transfer of information between the seller and the consumer. There are four basic components to the QR code transaction: the customer receiving the information, the information provider, the QR code that links to, or contains the information and the application to read the code. And four parts, for many people, is one too many.

So any new technology that utilizes an application that can successfully broker that meeting between the user and provider without requiring a QR code is going to be the killer. And there are applications out there that already do this. They take a photo of a printed page or an ad or an image or even an object and then contact a server to retrieve more information about whatever was photographed. To some degree, Google Goggles can do this. There is also an app called Shortcut that can do this. These products are still limited in what information gets found, but they are here now.

Another option for future QR code killing could be a Visual Siri. If you've seen the ads, Siri responds to voice commands and does a pretty good job at finding information and answering questions. But what if you could point your phone's camera at something and ask, "What is this?" And your phone could say, "That is a 2012 Ford Focus. I've found 3 Ford dealers pretty close to you." Or point your camera at a Philly Cheese Steak and the phone says, "The 1200 calories for that would put you off your diet."

Or point it at this guy and your phone says, "He's a wanted man. He has the death sentence on twelve systems. Mess with him and you'll be dead." (Yes, that's a Star Wars reference.) That could be pretty helpful to know if there were no Jedi around.

Having your phone become your brain can open up a whole new area of study for social scientists: what happens when everyone receives the same answers from a single voice? Will we hear, "Siri, who should I vote for?" coming from the ballot booth during the next election?

As devices become more powerful, some new technology will leap easily over the limitations of the QR code. But that will never mean that the code is bad technology. It does a few things extremely well. It's free to make one any time you need one.

The downside to that is that anyone can make one, even someone with evil intentions who wants to infect your phone with some malicious software.

And chances are pretty good that any new reader application will work with them, just as they should work with 1D bar codes to allow us to scan products in stores for inventory or identification purposes. Because, even if we begin using our cameras in combination with some new image capture app, it's still going to be nearly impossible to tell the difference between a 14 oz. box of Captain Crunch cereal and a 17 oz. box, unless you scan the bar code and read the universal product code.

Create a Simple Custom QR Code

This is a simple 4-slide presentation for how to use the QR code generator MOJI-Q and a simple image editor to make a custom QR code that contains your logo.

(Don't forget to first shorten a long URL before you make your code.)

Creating simple custom QR codes

View more PowerPoint from sstc27

QR Code Review: Two for Tuesday.

The magazine American Rifleman gave me two codes on the same page. The first one isn't anything special and only links to the NRA store, not a mobile site, just the regular web page of the holster bag, $169.95. Scan the code to get to http://tinyurl.com/3bkbb4r which redirects to http://www.nrastore.com/nrastore/ProductDetail.aspx?p=HO+22606&ct=e . At least they know enough to shorten that URL before they generate the QR code.

The second code is much better as it links directly to a video for the Heckler & Koch .22 LR with some hardcore rock music blasting and some hardcore dudes in black tactical gear busting out from a garage in slow motion into the falling snow to sneak up on and blow the hell out of some empty soup cans. Groovy. I watched it through twice.

But it crashed my browser on my Android phone. FAIL. And it didn't play in IE8, but it played in Firefox. The code scans to http://goo.gl/luDnd which directs to http://web28.streamhoster.com/umarexusa/americanrifleman/hkmp5.mp4

I always say that video is a great way to jump in to using QR codes. Most companies have video of their products, video reviews, product tests, slow motion somebody's doing something to music... this is where you want your codes. Give me a 30-second commercial for your product that you could never show on television. And I will watch it over and over again.

QR Code Magazine Check

Some people still don't know what QR codes are. Ideally, a QR code is used on a printed page or even a web page. So it's disappointing when I look through current magazines and find only a few codes inside.

Now, think about the situation when someone is reading a magazine or newspaper. They are probably reading in a chair or on the couch or someplace where it's comfortable to sit. They could also be browsing at a bookstore or on the street at a news stand. But I don't imagine that they are in front of a computer. It's not convenient to open a magazine near a computer because of the limited space.

So it's easy to imagine that someone would be reading in a space not directly next to a computer.

So why don't more companies use QR codes to connect with readers in their print advertising? If I'm reading an article and I see some message like "visit our website for more information," I know that I'm probably going to forget to make that effort later. Or even worse, "Like us on Facebook," which means I have to get to a computer and sign into my Facebook account to Like you because I'm not typing that string into my phone.

But if I have my phone with me, I can tap the app to open it and scan the code to see what it is they want to show me. I'm not going to type a web address in my phone because I'm lazy, but I might tap and scan.

So here is a survey of a few current magazines and the codes I found inside:

M Music & Musicians, December 2011
I grabbed this one from the shelf because I thought that music would be a great area for using QR codes to connect readers with performance video clips or track downloads. But that's not the case with this issue. I found 4 codes for different musical instruments and mixing equipment.

Guns & Ammo, March 2012
There are 6 codes in this issue for pistols, rifles, ammo. I don't know what it is about gun manufacturers, but it must really sell product to show a video of some guy shooting the crap out of tree stump.

Esquire, February 2012
There's a code right on the cover, in front of Bill Clinton's crotch. Point your phone at it; you know he would want that. Do you think the editors made a conscious choice to place it there?

There's also a code inside the magazine for bourbon, but that's it. I don't know; with so many interviews and photos and how-tos in Esquire, you'd think a link to additional web content like video of the interviews or more fashion photos would be a bonus selling point.

Entrepreneur, February 2012
FTW! An article on QR codes is on p. 56. Awesome. And 9 codes inside. And the one on p. 79 for School of Rock uses a code in the shape of a guitar. Super cool. There's got to be a QR code texture out there that makes it easier to fit your code inside of a logo or design. I'm going to google "QR code background texture" right now. ... but I bet there's a way to add the right amount of noise in Photoshop...