An Ode to the Code: 2021 Was the Year of the QR Code

A bright spot in the year of overwhelming tech

“Going to the restaurant in Mallorca in times of Covid-19: face mask and contactless menu with QR code” by verchmarco is licensed under CC BY 2.0

There, on the table, stood a tiny, laminated card with a QR code. On one side, it said “Menu” — on the other, “Drinks.” When we got the bill, at the bottom it said “No need to tip! We’ve included a service charge, just scan the code and pay.” Each time I scanned it, I warmed up to the QR codes, releasing some of my long-held disdain for the 2D block grams.

Anyone who has taken my courses knows I was not a big fan of the QR code. When they started to trend, over a decade ago, I ridiculed their presence every time I saw one on a business card, poster or sticker.

— What, they want to me open my camera to go click on a link to go to a website to read what? Something they could have just said on the business card/sticker/poster? Nah. No thanks.

Quick Response Codes have a funny history, and according to Clive Thompson (a fellow former skeptic), the codes have been around since 1994, reaching their heyday around 2010. This was the era of unabashed tech boosterism, so when these codes weren’t well liked, that tells you something.

In 2014, Scott Stratton wrote a book titled QR Codes Kill Kittens: How to Alienate Customers, Dishearten Employees, and Drive Your Business into the Ground…