Why do people fall for this?

[neil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk]

@BenCotterill @revk I quite like QR codes.

[bencotterill@mastodon.social]

@neil @revk I quite like easily readable and rememberable URLs

[neil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk]

@BenCotterill @revk Yep, both have their place.

[jelte@mastodon.nl]

@revk because most people don't know that a qr code is just some text in reliably scannable form. They think it's some complicated magic thing that requires Services.

[kitten_tech@fosstodon.org]

@revk a similar thing that saddens me is shop/van signs saying "https://joes-garden-services.com/ joesgarden2241@gmail.com"... You've got that lovely domain, why not use it for email?

[bencotterill@mastodon.social]

@neil @revk Only time I can see the need for a QR is for something very specific.

I.e. I am vegetarian and coeliac. So for the hundredth time I will be told that the only thing I can eat is a tiny overpriced bowl of olives.

[jonossaseuraava@post.ebin.club]

@jelte
@revk
Same deal with rest of tech as well

[neil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk]

@BenCotterill @revk

I prefer to see a QR code alongside the information contained within it, rather than just the QR code, but as an easy means of transferring data, I like QR codes.

[bencotterill@mastodon.social]

@neil @revk I prefer the staff to know it off by heart. I did.

[neil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk]

@BenCotterill @revk We are still talking about a shop window, right?

[bencotterill@mastodon.social]

@neil @revk Yeah.

[woe2you@beige.party]

@neil @BenCotterill @revk And the place for QR codes is the bin. I'd rather pick up and reuse needles from the ground than follow a link that could be pointing literally anywhere because it's not human readable.

[guardeddon@mas.to]

@kitten_tech @revk
… while most of Joe’s online ‘traffic’ goes via a Facebook page. Where everything’s an image (& not a scrap of alt-text). I despair!

[revk@toot.me.uk]

@woe2you @neil @BenCotterill My iphone shows me the domain before I follow the link.

[neil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk]

@revk @woe2you @BenCotterill

Same here on Android.

As I say, I prefer to see the content separately, but I appreciate the convenience of a QR code.

[rogerbw@discordian.social]

@neil @revk @woe2you @BenCotterill Of course, this is another reason to show the code for mycompany.co.uk rather than dodgyintermediaries.com.

[revk@toot.me.uk]

@RogerBW @neil @woe2you @BenCotterill Indeed.

[neil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk]

@revk @woe2you @BenCotterill

But I am, I suppose, coming at this from the perspective of a QR code for a URL *where the actual URL of the target* is in the QR code. Not some "QR-code-as-a-service" proxy.

But then I feel the same about link shorteners etc., for plain text URLs: just show me the actual destination.

[neil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk]

@RogerBW @revk @woe2you @BenCotterill

Yes, snap.

[woe2you@beige.party]

@neil @revk @BenCotterill At this point it's safe to assume all shortening is explicitly to disguise tracking.