QR Codes Linking To Mobile Smartsites
I’ve spent months trying to understand RIM’s direction laid out by Jim Ballsille that they would not go in the direction of Google Android and Apple in letting developers release as many apps as they wanted on their platform.
There are over 500,000 mobile apps between Android and Apple, which suggests that perhaps this is the biggest tech bubble since dotcom a dozen years ago.
RIM’s Ballsille stated on November 17: “You don’t need an app for the web.”
I’ve come to the conclusion that Ballsillie is right for two reasons:
1) Apps stand in the way of users accessing content as swiftly as possible.
2) The longer it takes to reach the desired destination, the more frustrated a person becomes, especially in a mobile space.
Ballsillie further contended: “I don’t need a YouTube app to go to YouTube.”
Yes, why would we download the YouTube app so we can watch YouTube videos when you can access those YouTube videos through the mobile internet?
Apps just serve as a mobile media vehicle to access content when you’re on your smartphone or tablet.
It’s true that there was a time when apps were recognized as the only vehicle to deliver content in a smartphone space.
And there are just too many mobile apps- over 500,000 and counting between Apple and Android alone- we’ve all tried navigating through the sea of apps with much difficulty.
Blackberry announced the release of “Super Apps” in the fall. It’s an interesting strategy because the apps that survive will be the most useful ones, as they will have capabilites that go beyond what the mobile internet can do, like QR code scanning apps.
The advent of the digital barcode, better known as the QR Code eliminates the need to find and search for our desired destination as it bridges the offline and online worlds through what is known as barcode scanning.
It’s the most direct and local offline advertising solution of all time that also links back to the Internet.
While apps are access portals on the smartphone, QR Codes are access portals from the offline world.
Google Android took over the smartphone market in six months by creating a cross-platform browser that was open-source, meaning any smartphone maker could adopt it. In the same vein, the QR Code is also open-source.
This means anyone can develop the technology and advance it beyond what we’ve already seen. It has been said countless times that because QR Codes bridge the gap between the offline and online worlds, the possibilties are limitless.
QR Codes can be printed on anything, and as we’ve seen, have added a digital aspect to promotional products, allowing them to become vehicles of media.
When scanned by a Super App like a barcode scanner known as RedLaser, I-Nigma, ScanLife and others, they can direct you to a “mobile smartsite” that resembles a mobile app interface, eliminating the need to download the app.
Without having to download the app.
You’d recycle or discard a piece of print media, rendering as it a one-time promotional piece.
However, if you had a promotional product, you’d be way more likely to hang on to it for a long period of time, and especially if a brand told you to so that you could get fresh deals everyday.
The reality is that products last longer.
A QR Code printed on a product becomes the ultimate way to deliver media, eliminating the hassle of downloading the app, navigating through an app store, and eliminating the need for useless apps.
