Comments on: How QR codes could save newspapers from obsolescence http://www.newmediabytes.com/2008/04/08/how-qr-codes-can-save-newspapers-from-obsolescence/ Sun, 05 Feb 2012 04:09:02 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Whether News Websites Finally ‘Get’ the Web or Not, it’s Time to Focus on Mobile | New Media Bytes | Online journalism, web production and promotion http://www.newmediabytes.com/2008/04/08/how-qr-codes-can-save-newspapers-from-obsolescence/comment-page-1/#comment-1368 Whether News Websites Finally ‘Get’ the Web or Not, it’s Time to Focus on Mobile | New Media Bytes | Online journalism, web production and promotion Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:11:18 +0000 http://www.newmediabytes.com/?p=244#comment-1368 [...] Also, email is a huge component of communication - largely done via phones. Texting isn’t quite as common because of the cost of SMS. (And don’t even get me started on the prevalence of QR codes) [...] [...] Also, email is a huge component of communication – largely done via phones. Texting isn’t quite as common because of the cost of SMS. (And don’t even get me started on the prevalence of QR codes) [...]

]]> By: Melinda Gipson http://www.newmediabytes.com/2008/04/08/how-qr-codes-can-save-newspapers-from-obsolescence/comment-page-1/#comment-1349 Melinda Gipson Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:57:33 +0000 http://www.newmediabytes.com/?p=244#comment-1349 UPC symbols come with too much baggage, imho. 2D codes (the more technically correct term -- QR or "quick response" refers more specifically to the particular standards-based code used widely in Europe) has promise precisely because there are several free, downloadable browsers that interact with them. Anchoring anything to Amazon -- or any single system -- is not how the Web, or any innovation works. First, exceptional article. Second, I think the key to adoption here will be useful tools/platforms for advertisers and publishers to be able to easily design campaigns that enable users to navigate between print, the Web, and mobile/on-the-go services depending on WHERE THEY ARE and what they're doing. (Mobile Discovery has one such platform.) What I love about this is ease of use combined with user choice. I can scan a code now and find out when the bus will be here. I can scan an ad, and return to it later when I have some time to look into my insurance or retirement options. Once saved, a great offer becomse viral and carries with it the endorsement of my peers (you can not just save/bookmark something, but share it with friends.) This breathes new live into print publications because articles can become more accessible. Newspapers should be all over this because they can save printing costs -- of course they may not be so happy about Shawn's "over the shoulder" scanning suggestion ;-). But, back to the control issue -- what if you could include a "subscribe" button and pay for it with your phone too? This is WAY more interesting than waiting for the next generation of wi-fi readers in my opinion. Both print and online retain their value, but as places to discover and share information, not just consume it once and throw it away. Parting note -- I was on a plane yesterday out of IAD and a guy next to me had a copy of Welt, the German newspaper with 2D codes in it, so this is no pipe dream... UPC symbols come with too much baggage, imho. 2D codes (the more technically correct term — QR or “quick response” refers more specifically to the particular standards-based code used widely in Europe) has promise precisely because there are several free, downloadable browsers that interact with them. Anchoring anything to Amazon — or any single system — is not how the Web, or any innovation works. First, exceptional article. Second, I think the key to adoption here will be useful tools/platforms for advertisers and publishers to be able to easily design campaigns that enable users to navigate between print, the Web, and mobile/on-the-go services depending on WHERE THEY ARE and what they’re doing. (Mobile Discovery has one such platform.) What I love about this is ease of use combined with user choice. I can scan a code now and find out when the bus will be here. I can scan an ad, and return to it later when I have some time to look into my insurance or retirement options. Once saved, a great offer becomse viral and carries with it the endorsement of my peers (you can not just save/bookmark something, but share it with friends.) This breathes new live into print publications because articles can become more accessible. Newspapers should be all over this because they can save printing costs — of course they may not be so happy about Shawn’s “over the shoulder” scanning suggestion ;-). But, back to the control issue — what if you could include a “subscribe” button and pay for it with your phone too? This is WAY more interesting than waiting for the next generation of wi-fi readers in my opinion. Both print and online retain their value, but as places to discover and share information, not just consume it once and throw it away. Parting note — I was on a plane yesterday out of IAD and a guy next to me had a copy of Welt, the German newspaper with 2D codes in it, so this is no pipe dream…

]]> By: Jeff Hobbs http://www.newmediabytes.com/2008/04/08/how-qr-codes-can-save-newspapers-from-obsolescence/comment-page-1/#comment-1335 Jeff Hobbs Sun, 29 Jun 2008 09:57:10 +0000 http://www.newmediabytes.com/?p=244#comment-1335 I'm not totally buying it -- any plan that begins with "First, every company has to stop what they're doing and do this instead" seems doomed to failure. What I find more plausible is that cell phone cameras and processing power will both get good enough so cell phones can easily read existing bar codes -- Android already has this in the spec for Amazon searches via bar code. This might give the idea enough traction that it wouldn't seem weird to do so, but even then, the momentum will be behind traditional UPC codes and not QR codes. I’m not totally buying it — any plan that begins with “First, every company has to stop what they’re doing and do this instead” seems doomed to failure. What I find more plausible is that cell phone cameras and processing power will both get good enough so cell phones can easily read existing bar codes — Android already has this in the spec for Amazon searches via bar code. This might give the idea enough traction that it wouldn’t seem weird to do so, but even then, the momentum will be behind traditional UPC codes and not QR codes.

]]> By: Gazza&Play http://www.newmediabytes.com/2008/04/08/how-qr-codes-can-save-newspapers-from-obsolescence/comment-page-1/#comment-1312 Gazza&Play Sat, 07 Jun 2008 01:15:18 +0000 http://www.newmediabytes.com/?p=244#comment-1312 [...] interessante articolo, non propriamente rivolto ai soggetti qui citati, che contano milioni di affezionati lettori, parla [...] [...] interessante articolo, non propriamente rivolto ai soggetti qui citati, che contano milioni di affezionati lettori, parla [...]

]]> By: Is future of QR codes and newspapers really that rosey? | New Media Bytes | Online journalism, web production and promotion http://www.newmediabytes.com/2008/04/08/how-qr-codes-can-save-newspapers-from-obsolescence/comment-page-1/#comment-953 Is future of QR codes and newspapers really that rosey? | New Media Bytes | Online journalism, web production and promotion Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:07:38 +0000 http://www.newmediabytes.com/?p=244#comment-953 [...] codes have the potential to change the ways newspapers relate to consumers and could provide some revenue-generators for print [...] [...] codes have the potential to change the ways newspapers relate to consumers and could provide some revenue-generators for print [...]

]]> By: How to create and use QR codes for your newspaper | New Media Bytes | Online journalism, web production and promotion http://www.newmediabytes.com/2008/04/08/how-qr-codes-can-save-newspapers-from-obsolescence/comment-page-1/#comment-917 How to create and use QR codes for your newspaper | New Media Bytes | Online journalism, web production and promotion Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:24:05 +0000 http://www.newmediabytes.com/?p=244#comment-917 [...] that QR codes will be big business in the U.S. in no time. Now that you know all about them, and how they can be effective, it’s time to start using [...] [...] that QR codes will be big business in the U.S. in no time. Now that you know all about them, and how they can be effective, it’s time to start using [...]

]]> By: Shawn Smith http://www.newmediabytes.com/2008/04/08/how-qr-codes-can-save-newspapers-from-obsolescence/comment-page-1/#comment-914 Shawn Smith Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:20:41 +0000 http://www.newmediabytes.com/?p=244#comment-914 I think mobile is great and people are going to love getting information on these devices, but I think the size of a mobile device also puts limits on how much someone would like to use it for everything. I don't have an iPhone yet, so I'm not the perfect one to answer this, but I can't imagine a mobile person really wants to surf constantly on their phone. Just like newspapers should be guides to the internet with their news sites, I think papers can also serve as guides in mobile. The trick is to figure out the most effective way to be that guide. The thing I'm getting at is you can't lug around a computer, and as advanced and nice as some mobile units are, they aren't adequately sized to provide the browsing usability that a desktop or laptop can. But you can grab a light paper and use the mobile device to compliment your newsgathering. No I haven't seen this in action (going to Japan in July though, so I have a better idea then) - but I think it is possible, and what do papers have to lose by trying it? I think mobile is great and people are going to love getting information on these devices, but I think the size of a mobile device also puts limits on how much someone would like to use it for everything. I don’t have an iPhone yet, so I’m not the perfect one to answer this, but I can’t imagine a mobile person really wants to surf constantly on their phone. Just like newspapers should be guides to the internet with their news sites, I think papers can also serve as guides in mobile. The trick is to figure out the most effective way to be that guide. The thing I’m getting at is you can’t lug around a computer, and as advanced and nice as some mobile units are, they aren’t adequately sized to provide the browsing usability that a desktop or laptop can. But you can grab a light paper and use the mobile device to compliment your newsgathering. No I haven’t seen this in action (going to Japan in July though, so I have a better idea then) – but I think it is possible, and what do papers have to lose by trying it?

]]> By: QR codes could revolutionize the newspaper-consumer relationship - if papers allow it | New Media Bytes | Online journalism, web production and promotion http://www.newmediabytes.com/2008/04/08/how-qr-codes-can-save-newspapers-from-obsolescence/comment-page-1/#comment-911 QR codes could revolutionize the newspaper-consumer relationship - if papers allow it | New Media Bytes | Online journalism, web production and promotion Wed, 09 Apr 2008 09:59:36 +0000 http://www.newmediabytes.com/?p=244#comment-911 [...] How QR codes could make newspapers relevant again [...] [...] How QR codes could make newspapers relevant again [...]

]]> By: Brian Cubbison http://www.newmediabytes.com/2008/04/08/how-qr-codes-can-save-newspapers-from-obsolescence/comment-page-1/#comment-905 Brian Cubbison Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:29:00 +0000 http://www.newmediabytes.com/?p=244#comment-905 It sounds like the QR codes have solved most of the obstacles that doomed the Cue Cat. It would be fun to think up uses for this. Some lingering questions though: For someone who's online and mobile, what does the paper add? Will mobile info consumers already be connected to the info the paper wants to send them to? Will they make a side trip to the paper to find out about stuff that's on their mobile phone? I guess what I'm getting at is, if the marketing value of this is to say, "It's like an html page, but on paper; you can 'click' on it and everything," what if people say, "but I've already got html pages, and I don't need to fool with the paper." As much as I love the idea, I wonder if it's for that same large but shrinking group of people for whom information starts out on paper (but are techy enough to have camera phones), while the growing group of people live in an online world of feeds and streams, and never pick up the paper. I'm just trying to give the idea a thorough vetting. What will make paper a part of people's lives again, if they get what they need online? It sounds like the QR codes have solved most of the obstacles that doomed the Cue Cat. It would be fun to think up uses for this. Some lingering questions though: For someone who’s online and mobile, what does the paper add? Will mobile info consumers already be connected to the info the paper wants to send them to? Will they make a side trip to the paper to find out about stuff that’s on their mobile phone? I guess what I’m getting at is, if the marketing value of this is to say, “It’s like an html page, but on paper; you can ‘click’ on it and everything,” what if people say, “but I’ve already got html pages, and I don’t need to fool with the paper.” As much as I love the idea, I wonder if it’s for that same large but shrinking group of people for whom information starts out on paper (but are techy enough to have camera phones), while the growing group of people live in an online world of feeds and streams, and never pick up the paper.

I’m just trying to give the idea a thorough vetting. What will make paper a part of people’s lives again, if they get what they need online?

]]> By: Shawn Smith http://www.newmediabytes.com/2008/04/08/how-qr-codes-can-save-newspapers-from-obsolescence/comment-page-1/#comment-892 Shawn Smith Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:09:02 +0000 http://www.newmediabytes.com/?p=244#comment-892 Definitely. Just go ahead and do a search for QR code generators - Here's one http://reader.kaywa.com/ - I'll be posting a resources post tomorrow with more options Definitely. Just go ahead and do a search for QR code generators – Here’s one http://reader.kaywa.com/ – I’ll be posting a resources post tomorrow with more options

]]>