Is That All?

So, it's been about a year now since I finally joined the new millennium and found a "smart" phone on a carrier and plan that I think is reasonably priced — and so I can now check my Google calendar, play Words With Friends, keep up with Facebook — and read QR codes — from my phone.

The QR code thing is a relatively new "app" for me and my Android phone. I basically was thumbing through a copy of NAILS a few months ago while cooking dinner and realized the QR thing had exploded when I wasn't looking. Suddenly, it seemed, they weren't just here or there, but they were everywhere! And, with that many codes to be scanned, I figured it was time to download a QR code reader so I could see what I was missing out on in all these ads.

So I looked through my options for a code reader app, I chose one, I downloaded it, I figured it out, and started scanning.

Seriously? Scan after scan after scan, through the entire issue, revealed nothing more exciting than links to company websites.

Well, if I wanted to go to your website, I could have just done it. I mean, I guess it's kinda easy to simply scan and click, but frankly, for the effort involved in lining up the camera just right to scan the codes, I can easily type in a simple URL just as fast.

The QR code thing is cool technology, and that fact that your own custom-generated code is so easily accessible makes me all the more disappointed to discover that most of the codes out there take you nowhere more interesting than the same basic homepage that's been available for years now.

Why not create a special "hidden" page on your website just for the code — so when I scan your code, it takes me someplace new and different? A page or site that no one else can get to without scanning that code? A special offer for scanning? A secret hint? At least a special "hey thanks for scanning that code!" message that makes me feel like it was worth my effort?

I've scanned so many codes (and not just industry-related ones) that take me to the company's homepage on their website, I'm kinda jaded about the codes altogether now. Like, "Hey! This app takes up space on my phone's memory, y'know! If this is all you got, there's not much reason for me to keep it!"

So, here's a code to consider, please enjoy!