QR codes have always been a tech tortoise: advancing slowly, improving slightly, getting a tiny bit more popular every year.

Until Covid happened, when they suddenly took a leap, onto menus and everything else you didn't want to touch.

This was way before that, when QR codes were big in Japan, and China, but still lame in the US.

Even back then, TechCrunch and Wired were thinking that QR codes could be overdue for mass adoption.  

And some of the ways QR codes were being used in China were amazing. 

QR (for "Quick Response") technology was, surprisingly, the most solid, dependable connectivity tech out there. 

There were already plenty of free QR apps on both Android and iPhone devices. 

So QR got a slot on the control panel.