QR Codes, a Cryptic Way of Linking the Real World to the Web

You may have seen QR Codes in magazines, on products, on billboards, or other places. They are mostly used for directing users to a website URL. It is especially useful for giving someone a direct link to a long and convoluted URL. You can make your own at http://www.mobile-barcodes.com/qr-code-generator/. To learn more about QR Codes visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_Code. Below is the QR Code for http://www.spurgeontech.com/.

2011-01-29 Update:

I guess there is a competing standard called Data Matrix. There is a code generator tool at http://datamatrix.kaywa.com/ and you can read more about the code itself at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Matrix. Both of these platforms are fairly versatile and contain error correction, so the codes can actually be read without loosing any data integrity with portions missing or damaged (although not much as we found out through experimentation.) Again, this is the datamatrix code for http://www.spurgeontech.com/.

We have had some discussions over the past week regarding the usefullness of these types of codes with mixed opinion. One of the questions being "Why cant we just use bar codes?" Answer: These contain way more data than a barcode ever could. Consider its original use in a factory, instead of a bar code with part number on a rack on the shop that has run out of parts, this code could also tell you where the rack is (for common parts) and how many are needed for that particular location. Another concern: "Why can't people just type in the address?" Answer: For cell phones it is a matter of convenience. You can transmit great amounts of data quickly from a physical real-world item that directs to more information about it on the web. Another comment: "These are useless for computers, because you should just use a link." Answer: If you want to be able to get information from a PC directly to a device like a phone, there are a few methods, like Bluetooth or sharing across the network. However, these are largely inconvenient or prohibited like connecting your personal cell phone directly to the corporate network, etc. It also allows quick communication from a PC, like if I wanted to give you my cell phone number, or direct you to a web site, you could just scan it from the screen, except, I could give you all of my contact information with a coded vCard in less time than it would take to just type my number in your phone and type my name in. The same can be done if you created a vCard code image and kept it on your phone. You can have your friends scan it with their phones as well. I used one to direct people driving by my house, which is for sale, to the house's web page on my realtor's web site. Again, a long convoluted address that is easier and faster to scan than to try and type correctly. I am trying to think of more innovative applications and will report back as I come up with them.