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.