Due to the rapidly changing nature of information technology, it shouldn't surprise anyone when a heavily lauded innovation winds up as a relative flop—and after the hype over QR codes, with claims that we'd spend hours each day scanning them to get information delivered to us on our phones, I'm actually sort of happy to watch the obituaries for them pile up.
Bloomberg News looked at the rapid demise of the QR code this week, and after all of that coverage of the technology, it's estimated that only 5 percent of Americans scan one any given week—and that's partially because most of these codes take us to destinations we don't really like. There are millions of corporate websites out there, and I am interested in very few of them.
One Tumblr site tells you everything you need to know about the codes. It's called "Pictures of People Scanning QR Codes," and guess what? There are no pictures.
It's not that QR Codes are bad, and in the end, they have some validity—as fancy bar codes used for limited purposes. Fandango uses them on tickets that are displayed on your phone for a theater employee to scan, and that's probably the best use of the technology—to speed up a process. They just won't likely be in the corners of advertisements much longer.
The week on The Range
We waited (and waited) for Bill O'Reilly's on-air apology regarding the Affordable Care Act; collected reactions to the Supreme Court's health-care decision; wondered what Daniel Patterson was thinking (which is part of an ongoing and endless series, apparently); let you know that Russell Pearce was on television saying stupid things (again); and discussed the highlights of the week's political events with Trent Humphries and Jeff Rogers on Arizona Illustrated's Political Roundtable, with your host, Jim Nintzel.
We wondered about the re-opening of local downtown mainstay Dizzy G's; made plans to drink some riesling; congratulated Tucson Iron Chef winner Ryan Clark; refused to dress up to get a free burger at Carl's Jr.; and wondered if local produce is reason enough to shop at Walmart.
We listened to an Olympics-themed Pet Shop Boys song; gave you the chance to win tickets to see either Seal or Joe Cocker (with Huey Lewis!) at AVA at Casino del Sol; introduced a new party thrown by Kitty Katt McKinley at Auld Dubliner on Sunday nights; tried to enjoy the new Avett Brothers song; shared a video collecting reactions to the streetcar construction; wondered where the time went while we were transfixed by roller-skating dance videos; hid under the desk, frightened by a Rock-Paper-Scissors-playing robot; introduced a new weekly feature from the staff of TucsonInStyle.com; previewed the annual Labor Day weekend HoCo Fest; played with some virtual LEGOs; challenged Frank Antenori to a bet (with no response, so far); wondered why we've been slighted by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion; and congratulated the 2012 NCAA baseball champions, the Arizona Wildcats.
Comment of the week
"Looks like a lot of wannabe NYC club FREAKS!"
—TucsonWeekly.com commenter "Jeff Bilkanich" won't likely be checking out Kitty Katt McKinley's shuffleboard-themed Sunday-night parties at Auld Dubliner anytime soon ("Here's Something to Do on Sunday Nights," The Range, June 29).
Best of WWW
The votes from round one of the 2012 Tucson Area Music Awards balloting have been tallied, double-checked and combined with the selections from our panel of local music experts, so the second round of voting is now underway online, with 32 categories full of finalists ready for your votes. Who will be the Band/Musician of the Year, following in the trail of our most-recent winners, Calexico and Sergio Mendoza y Orkesta? Will it be Broken Romeo, Lenguas Largas, Brian Lopez, Ryanhood, LeeAnne Savage or the Silver Thread Trio? Vote now (and let your friends and acquaintances know to chime in as well)—and make plans to come to the TAMMIES event at the Rialto Theatre on Wednesday, Sept. 5!
