# A random QR code appears! Do you scan it?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-qr-code-appears-do-you-scan-it/579080>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [April 20, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-qr-code-appears-do-you-scan-it/579080 "2011-04-20T14:37:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-qr-code-appears-do-you-scan-it/579080/1 "2011-04-20T14:37:22Z")

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Say you’re in a public place and you see a couple of flyers with nothing but a large QR code (2D barcode) on them. Would you whip out your smartphone and scan it to see what it is?

Even though it’s probably an ad or a promotion, I would still scan it because scanning QR codes is kinda fun.

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**Author:** ![El\_Nene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/da6949/32.png) [@El\_Nene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Nene)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-qr-code-appears-do-you-scan-it/579080/2 "2011-04-20T15:20:11Z")

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Hells yeah! I almost got in an accident last weekend trying to scan one on bumper sticker.

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**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-qr-code-appears-do-you-scan-it/579080/3 "2011-04-20T17:29:34Z")

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Nope. To me, that’s the updated equivalent of the junk mail that comes with the label “Dated material! Open immediately!”

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**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-qr-code-appears-do-you-scan-it/579080/4 "2011-04-20T18:23:19Z")

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I would scan it. Eventually I’d stop doing so as **mrklutz** says, it effectively is just junk mail you’d not care about otherwise.

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**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-qr-code-appears-do-you-scan-it/579080/5 "2011-04-20T18:31:29Z")

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I’ve never scanned one that wasn’t for BBM. I don’t know if there’s already a program for that on my Bold 9700 or not. I’ve always _wanted_ to scan them, but was too lazy to actually look into the software requirements.

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**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-qr-code-appears-do-you-scan-it/579080/6 "2011-04-20T18:57:04Z")

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I love them! We’re actually developing an app at work that uses them on stickers, so we have all these random testing stickers with QR codes stuck on every available surface.

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**Author:** ![Anonymous\_Coward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/94ad74/32.png) [@Anonymous\_Coward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anonymous_Coward)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-random-qr-code-appears-do-you-scan-it/579080/7 "2011-04-21T19:59:48Z")

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What’s a good QR scanner for a new Blackberry?