NICEVILLE, Fla. —
Question: I’m another one of your older readers who watches in quiet wonder as technology advances and the world marches on. I’m also another reader who is extremely upset that your column was removed from a local publication. I’ve managed to solve that one by reading issues on your website, so thanks for that. The question I have chosen for you today is about these so-called “QR Codes” that seem to be everywhere these days. I keep seeing “Scan the code” to do such and such, but honestly, I have no idea what that means. I feel like I’m missing out. How do I “scan” these codes?
– Robert N.
Fort Walton Beach, Florida
The Geek’s Answer: Thanks for writing, Robert. I’m glad you’ve discovered my website. Whether the column publishes in the local papers or not, you can count on it always appearing there for as long as I continue to write it.
Before I answer your actual question, I thought you and my other readers might enjoy learning more about these little data squares, so here goes.
The common name QR Code is shorthand for the more formal name of Quick Response Code. For those not in the know, these are the squares of seemingly random patterns of black and white squares and dots with shapes on three of the four corners and sometimes with an image in the center.
QR Codes are a special kind of two-dimensional barcode that can encode any kind of alphanumeric data. They were invented in 1994 by the Japanese company Denso Wave, which is a subsidiary of Toyota. Their original purpose was to assist in tracking automotive components during assembly, but they have grown to serve a wide variety of purposes.
A standard QR code has a maximum symbol size of 177×177 modules. It can contain as many as 31,328 squares, which can encode around 3 KB of data. That’s well over 7,000 numeric characters or nearly 5,000 alphanumeric characters. The types of data that can be encoded in a QR code are numerous and the world soon discovered just how useful these little squares can be.
The QR code format is so useful that it became a de facto standard in the early 2000s, expanding into Europe and the United States around 2010. Since then, as you’ve seen, they’ve become ubiquitous, appearing in everything from TV and magazine ads to billboards, menus, and so much more.
One of the most common uses is to store a website URL, but they can also store contact information such as a vCard, the information required to join a WiFi network, special offers/coupons, product information, patient data, and the list just goes on and on.
Once QR codes started appearing, well, everywhere, it was a natural outgrowth that people would need to be able to use them with devices that are also, well, everywhere: namely our smartphones.
At first, there were special apps you had to load on your phone which would activate your phone’s camera to “scan” the QR code. The app would then decode the QR Code and take action on the content as appropriate. The app didn’t actually take a photo of the code, and the term scan was a holdover that referred to reading other common barcodes, such as UPC codes.
With the unrelenting march of technology, the manufacturers of smartphones upped their game. Nowadays, you only need to open your phone’s camera app and bring a QR code into focus in the frame. The camera will automatically detect the QR Code and decode it for you.
Usually, it will show you the translation and tell you the action it wants to take. All it takes is a single tap from you, and the phone executes the appropriate actions defined in the QR Code. This, Robert, is the very definition of the scan process you’re asking for.
If you think you might have uses for your own custom QR codes, creating them is easier than you probably think. One of my favorite free sites is QR Code Monkey, which has countless combinations of features you can put together to make codes that are truly, uniquely yours. The codes can be downloaded in .png, .svg, .eps, and even .pdf format for easy printing or embedding in your desktop publishing apps.
Visit them at TinyURL.com/IGTM-0912 to get started. You might just find uses for them that you didn’t even know you had!
Jeff Werner, a software engineer based in Niceville, Florida, has been writing his popular “It’s Geek to Me” tech column since 2007. He shares his expertise to help readers solve everyday tech challenges. To view additional content, comment on articles, or submit a question, visit ItsGeekToMe.co (not .com!).
