The March of Technology

Curiously, although the QR Code was first developed for the motor industry some 20 years ago, I have to confess that I had not seen it used in this way before, on the side of a new car in a display at a superstore.

 
Time was when would be car buyers would turn to the pages of magazines and newspapers to learn more about car choices and an independent appraisal of the vehicle they had their eye on.
 
Indeed, that still happens and remains my favoured way of getting the low-down on any particular car, but as a long-time appraiser of cars for print and web publications, maybe I am biased.
 
But here on the supermarket floor was my invitation to point my phone at the side of the car and get an instant information dossier via the phone of a complete family of cars.
 
The QR code as it is known — short for Quick Response Code — is a sort of barcode which works exceptionally well with latest generation mobile phones, and in principal here was the invitation to scan that code and have a complete car brochure, or more delivered to my phone, which I could then read on the phone or transfer to my computer later and read in comfort.
 
Yet although today was the first time I had seen it used in this way on a supermarket floor to provide information on car choices the code was developed for use by the auto industry in Japan more than 20 years ago, to keep track of vehicles and supplies during manufacture. It has caught on outside the motor industry and with the ability of mobile phones to interpret codes instantly is now widely used in all manner of circumstances.
 

Although I have a nose for seeking out information quickly, perhaps I am from a generation where I do question the march of technology.  Having driven new cars and written my impressions of them for many years, I now still prefer to read information about cars in a newspaper or magazine or on specialised motoring publication web sites.