On Apr 30, 6:42*pm, wrote:
Everywhere I look lately I see these square boxes that are filled with a
bunch of dots and three of the corners have small boxes in them. *I had
no idea what they were until eating at Taco Bell, and there was one on
their packaging that said "scan with your smartphone app". *HUH?????

I must be too old to understand any of this stuff anymore. *My cellphone
makes phone calls and can send texts (if I knew anyone that knew how to
read or respond to a text). *There is no scanner, no camera, no
internet, nothing but a basic phone.

Anyhow, what do these square things do? *Is there actually some
information inside of it? *To me it looks like nothing but a bunch of
ink sprayed in the box randomly. *And while I'm asking about this, what
is an "APP"?

About all I can figure is that these are similar to a barcode..... *But
for what reason????

I'll probably never own a smart phone, since my standard cellphone is
all I need for emergencies or to make an occasisonal call from my car.
My computer takes care of my internet needs, and my digital camera takes
pictures, so I see no reason to have any need for a smartphone. *But
since I am seeing these things everywhere lately, I had to ask what they
are for.

The older I get, the more useless all this technology seems to be!!!!
Even the internet is becoming useless as everyone leaves the newsgroups
and websites in favor of Facebook, which (in my opinion) is totally
worthless.

Thanks

They are called QR codes, short for Quick Response codes.

If you use a bar code reader app (application) on your smart phone,
they will take you directly to the website for the product the code
was on.

They were originally used in the auto industry (I think Toyota
invented them) to track vehicles as they went down the line. As far as
I understand it, they are faster than bar codes.

They are now used in various marketing venues, such as on products, in
magazines, store fronts, etc. Since anyone with a smart phone can
download a free bar code reading app and use the phone's camera to
read bar codes and QR codes, it's a great way for companies to get
consumers to visit their websites.

BTW...bar code reading apps are one of the reasons places like Best
Buy are struggling. A tech savvy consumer can go into Best Buy, etc.,
put their hands on various items, talk to the salespeople and gather a
lot of knowledge. They can then pull out their smart phones, scan the
bar code, find the best on-line price and purchase it before they even
the leave the store.