QR codes in books?

[herrozerro]

I find it interesting the love and hate for qr codes. There seems to be no neutral ground. Except for people who are unaware of them.

 

[Morrus]

Thanks guys! I know it's not exactly scientific, but I think I've gotten a fairly resounding answer. No QR codes in the books!

 

[delericho]

1) is anyone including QR codes in books?

I don't think I've ever seen one in an actual book. Magazines sometimes have them, though usually on the adverts.

I did once get a Christmas card with a printed QR code, though. (It was one of those personalised cards, and the QR code led to a gallery of more photos of the family in question.)

2) would QR codes liking to media (video, audio) or additional resources be something you'd use if it were there?

No. Not only am I one of those no-smartphone Luddites, but I consider QR codes themselves to be a fairly annoying gimmick. Though not as bad as Twitter.

 

[Morrus]

No. Not only am I one of those no-smartphone Luddites,

If this thread is any kind of survey, 100% of people have no smartphones. Or only people without smartphones like commenting on subjects about smartphones. Or something!

 

[herrozerro]

If this thread is any kind of survey, 100% of people have no smartphones. Or only people without smartphones like commenting on subjects about smartphones. Or something!

There is a new technology coming out, though I don't think it's fully developed yet.

The Penguin Barcode - Computerphile: http://youtu.be/kW39Mt5kscQ

I'd say it might also depend on the genre of book as well. I think I'd rather see qr codes in a cyberpunk game like interface zero rather than a dnd book.

With that said. Your little poll should at least have a 1% for. As I am one of those techie kind of people who love seeing it in all places.

 

[Umbran]

Unless you're a complete outlier, you have a smartphone on you, though, right?

Not having a smarphone doesn't make me a complete outlier by any means. In the US, as of September 2013, about 62% of the mobile market was smartphones*. The percentage is probably a bit higher in your target audience, but not having one doesn't make you all that odd.

Is it a policy thing that you wouldn't whip it out rather than try to do it with your laptop?

Say I did have a smartphone - that screen is *tiny*. I'm not going to use it for game prep, or for reference during play. And, do I care about content you have that I'm *not* going to use at the table?


*Comscore: "147.9 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones (62 percent mobile market penetration) during the three months ending in September, up 4.5 percent since June."

 

[Morrus]

Yeah, I'm totally getting it, Umbran. I don't think I personally know anybody without one, but it appears my experiences are unusual. Sometimes you find out the world elsewhere is really different to the one you yourself live in in ways that you never even thought to consider!

(Edit - I can see where my perception came from. A little research tells me smartphone adoption here in the UK is 75%, and 50% of people have tablets - and the demographic I usually interact with is likely closer to 90%+; so I'm in an environment where I just don't come across people without smartphones, which is why I thought it so strange and alien).

 

[Callahan09]

This talk of URL vs QR code is surprising to me. Thankfully there is an easy compromise: just put both in the book. That way people with smart phones have an easy link requiring no typing (I personally prefer this), and everyone else can just type the URL.

 

[Morrus]

This talk of URL vs QR code is surprising to me. Thankfully there is an easy compromise: just put both in the book. That way people with smart phones have an easy link requiring no typing (I personally prefer this), and everyone else can just type the URL.

Thing is, when you look at the following URLs, they're not exactly all "type-in friendly".

As I said earlier, if you saw these URLS on a web page and had to type them in rather than click on them, would you? You can't copy & paste from a book. (They're so long, even the board software insists on shortening them! And these aren't exactly the longest!)

http://www.enworld.org/forum/rpgdownloads.php?do=download&downloadid=987


http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?354140-QR-codes-in-books&goto=newpost

 

[herrozerro]

It also depends on if the linked to content is mobile friendly. If you are linking to downloads then the user needs to share the link back to a desktop or laptop or download then to the device and transfer them from there.

On the flip side, having a link to a gallery of art isn't so bad as it could be mobile friendly.