Everything changed for QR codes when Covid-19 shut down the restaurant industry in early 2020
QR codes are suddenly everywhere. Restaurant menus. Device installs. Jewelry packaging. But while they’re popping up faster than TikTok trends, it might surprise you to learn that they were actually created in 1994, which makes them almost the same age as the world wide web. So they’re actually pretty old, in tech time — but they’re only just now becoming relevant to the everyday consumer. What’s that about?
Quick response (QR) codes were invented at Japanese automotive company Denso Wave. The goal was to make auto part scanning easier and more efficient with a new barcode that could hold more information than the traditional rectangular one. The black and white design is based on the popular board game Go and one QR code can hold exponentially more information than a traditional barcode.
But adoption of QR codes outside of manufacturing was slow, mainly because we didn’t have the consumer tech to utilize them. Remember: Just like a barcode, a QR code requires a special scanner. And who has one of those in their home?
Well, after 2007, nearly everyone does. The first iPhone was released that year and I don’t have to tell you how successful it was. You still needed a special app to scan QR codes, but it only took a few years before they were all over the place. You’d see them on the doors of convenience stores, on business cards, on some forms of currency — I even saw a giant one sail by on the side of a public bus. And, to some degree, they caught ..
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