As per an example URL shortened here:
What is the displayed 2D barcode for (copied here):
+1
A:
Takes you to the webpage of the shortened URL (usually for mobile devices that can read a QR code).
kchau
2010-10-01 02:46:44
Dude, one day I'll have enough $ to get a cell phone contract, until then nothing like that on my pre-pay'd.
Xepoch
2010-10-01 03:08:32
+5
A:
It's actually a 2D barcode, and it is a QR code. It is meant to print on stickers and what not to read with your cell phone camera.
Brad
2010-10-01 02:50:04
Am I that far behind the times? No doubt it represents the URL, BUT people are rushed that much to take pictures and then use an app to decode to go to a URL?
Xepoch
2010-10-01 03:04:26
@Xepoch: Haven't done it myself, but sounds easier that typing it in. A half-dozen taps, maybe, versus a dozen just to type in a tinyurl.
Michael Petrotta
2010-10-01 03:10:40
I've started seeing them in ads and what not printed in newspapers and magazines. I don't know if they are working for anyone, but if you've got the space and an audience that uses smart phones, it can't hurt. We just used it on a poster for a campus radio station: http://www.augustana.edu/users/bradisbell/WAUGPosterFall2010_small.jpg
Brad
2010-10-01 03:59:33
+1
A:
Quick answer: printing these barcodes on a webpage is a common way to let people visit/bookmark that page from their phone (using the phone's camera and barcode reader function).
It is important to understand a barcode is a piece of text data, and not an instruction. For example, the above bar code contains the text "http://goo.gl/info/kW1c".
It is the application reading the barcode which interprets it as an instruction. The data is read by a barcode reading application (for example, on a smart phone), and then an appropriate action is typically launched depending on the type of data. For example, if the text starts with "http://" a browser may be launched with that URL. If the data starts with "phone:" the phone application may be launch with that number.
Vineet Manohar
2010-10-06 18:02:57