Weird barcode type things?

MaxwellBygraves
MaxwellBygraves Posts: 1,353
edited April 2011 in The bottom bracket
Can someone explain what these weird things in adverts in cycle mags do?

They are square and have barcode type stuff inside them.

Whats the deal?
"That's it! You people have stood in my way long enough. I'm going to clown college! " - Homer

Comments

  • Mike67
    Mike67 Posts: 585
    I think it's a data matrix.

    They use smaller ones on Pharmaceutical packaging...it can encode a lot more info than a barcode.
    Mike B

    Cannondale CAAD9
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  • Cubic
    Cubic Posts: 594
    You excitedly take a photo of them with your smartphone. Then you look in disappointment at the dull marketing/advert website that they take you to.
    Cannondale Synapse Carbon

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  • Chip \'oyler
    Chip \'oyler Posts: 2,323
    They're QR codes. You need a specific reader in your mobile. It reads the code and then takes you to a specific site.
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  • MaxwellBygraves
    MaxwellBygraves Posts: 1,353
    I see. Sounds quite clever!

    I'm guessing you need the latest smartphone in order to do this.

    Does anyone actually use it?

    I think it's a good idea, could have more useful appliction than just selling bike bits.

    Although it probably is used in such ways I just dont know about it.
    "That's it! You people have stood in my way long enough. I'm going to clown college! " - Homer
  • RDW
    RDW Posts: 1,900
    Occasionally they get used for something useful. You can browse the web on your main PC for (e.g.) Android apps or Project Gutenberg ebooks, and scan the QR codes the sites display to download without having to type the address on the phone:

    http://www.androidzoom.com/android_appl ... nload.html

    http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31111.html#qr
  • thel33ter
    thel33ter Posts: 2,684
    Any Android, Nokia running on Symbian, iPhone or Windows Mobile phone will have an app to decode them.

    Personally I've used them about 3 times, IMO it's a stupid idea. Only good use for them is the Project Gutenburg thing.
    And now you know, and knowing is half the battle
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  • Ollieda
    Ollieda Posts: 1,010
    It's something that hasn't really caught on as predicted, apparently the original idea was that eventually you could have a poster that just had a picture of the item and the a QR for you to scan for all the extra info so they didn't need to fill the ad with small print
  • shouldbeinbed
    shouldbeinbed Posts: 2,660
    Got a reader on my HTC but barely ever use it. The main problem being that I do a lot of browsing on it, so the qr code is useless to me.

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