January 13, 2011

QR Codes - What are they?




I've been spending a lot of time online lately and have noticed these nifty little boxes like the one above. What are they? What do they do? And why, oh why, do you see them in all different colors?

Curious, I began my search for answers and guess what? Not only did I learn what they are and what they do, but that I could make my own. Cool!

The little box at the top of this blog post is called QR Code. It's a two dimensional code readable by dedicated QR barcode reader, like the one available on android phones. These little buggers are so cool! They can contain almost anything you want them to contain, from text, to web addresses to contact information. And the reason you see them in all different colors? Because you can 'make' your own in whatever color you want. So, of course, I did. I had to. The temptation to try it out was just too strong.

Do you have a camera phone with a barcode reader? Scan it! See what happens.

Want one of your own? Just search QR code generator. It's easy. It's fun! And it can be used as an interesting way to promote yourself.



8 comments:

Kathy Otten said...

Hi Sarah,
Wow, I've seen those in different places but never knew what they were. What do you do with them once you've got one made?

Sarah Grimm said...

Kathy-

You do anything with them that you want. You can embed just about any information you want into one. The one on my blog is my web address. When it's scanned, it will connect the person to my website.

I told my sister about them, and that she could make one with contact information in it, and she is going to put one on the door to her shop. Her shop hours are mostly by appointment, and although the info is on her shop door, someone with a scanner could scan the QR code and have the contact information in their phone for when they get home.

You can make them for purchase links, connecting websites or blogs for a blog tour, or even have it printed on your business card so that someone could scan the code and all of your contact information would be added into their phone.

Very fun!

Denise Golinowski said...

Talk about no coincidences, I was just asking someone about these the other day. Thank you for shedding some light on this curious little thingamajiggies. I love that you can change the color, since I'm a color junkie. Thanks for sharing the info.

Sarah Grimm said...

Denise-

Definately no coincidences. :)
My sister said the same thing when I called to tell her about these, as she'd just been asked about them by someone the other day.

P.S. I also loved that you can change the color. In fact, now that I think about it, I think both the code and the background color could be changed on the generator I used.

Maeve Greyson said...

This is SO cool! I had no idea what those little critters were and now you've shown us how to make our own. Thanks, Sarah! You are AWESOME! :-)

Sarah Grimm said...

::blush:: Thanks, Maeve.

BTW, the website I used to make mine is:

http://www.qrstuff.com/

Di said...

What will they think of next? I had no idea there was so much to them. Just like all things techie, it takes me a while to grasp these things. Thanks for the info!

Sarah Grimm said...

You're welcome, Di. I didn't know much about them until I settled my curiosity and investigated. Then I thought they were so interesting I just had to share. :)