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Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

(slate.com)
527 points lxm | 6 comments | 29 Jun 21 03:25 UTC | HN request time: 0.285s | source | bottom
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elric ◴[29 Jun 21 09:02 UTC] No.27673501[source]▶
It's really simple: if I can't read your menu, I'm not eating. Goodbye. IIRC there's a law here that mandates a menu visible from outside the premises, it isn't always followed to the letter, but but most places comply, and it's a great way to avoid unpleasant pricing surprises.

Same with paying. You don't accept cash or credit cards? Goodbye. You only accept apple pay or some other nonsense payment system? Goodbye. And you'd better advertise your accepted payment methods outside if you want to avoid unpleasant surprises.

There are plenty of restaurants/bars out there. I'm not spending money in any place that clearly doesn't want me there.

And if you really insist on a silly QR menu, then at least include a human readable version of the URL. Seriously. It's not that hard.

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dual_dingo ◴[29 Jun 21 10:22 UTC] No.27673960[source]▶
> And if you really insist on a silly QR menu, then at least include a human readable version of the URL. Seriously. It's not that hard.

OK, here is the URL: > http://customer0931.incompetentagency.com/?location=2k12kx&i...

Have fun :)

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1. elric ◴[29 Jun 21 10:38 UTC] No.27674045[source]▶
I would argue that doesn't quite qualify as human readable ... Surely something like https://restaurant.tld/menu would make more sense ...
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2. lowercased ◴[29 Jun 21 10:48 UTC] No.27674092[source]▶
After 20 years of web, I still see commercially printed URLs on signs/buildings/cars/etc that do not understand redirects.

I saw http://www.ourcompany.com/sub/registration.aspx on printed on a glass door the other day - looked like etching at first, but may have something else? This was at a local theater/event space, IIRC.

"ourcompany.com/register" is infinitely more understandable, and unsure why no one in the chain of command for that decision didn't press for something simpler. But they often don't (still). I remember seeing an email printed on a service truck back... 2002? 2003? "Email us as www.myservicename@yahoo.com". I never tried it - perhaps they actually had that email, but I suspect people were still in the habit of saying "www dot" before anything that had to do with "internet".

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3. aclelland ◴[29 Jun 21 11:57 UTC] No.27674602[source]▶
There are a bunch of trucks outside my house at the moment laying fiber cabling. The email address for the company is basically 'buildingcompany.co.uk@gmail.com' and this isn't a tiny firm.

It left me wondering whether the bosses if the company just don't care or if they were told by the web design company they hired for their site that it'd add thousands to the website cost and decided against it.

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4. mkr-hn ◴[29 Jun 21 12:04 UTC] No.27674665[source]▶
I think most people will just Google the URL and (usually) get the correct address as the first result. This might even be an intentional (if misguided) SEO strategy.
5. atatatat ◴[29 Jun 21 12:19 UTC] No.27674783{3}[source]▶
It makes no difference to the box-checkers hiring them, so therefore,
6. dual_dingo ◴[29 Jun 21 14:30 UTC] No.27676273[source]▶
Of course this is not useful or really human readable. It was meant as a "Be careful what you ask for" to the parent post and refers to the fact that at least in my part of the world, most restaurants are not part of a big chain and often end up with digital service/ad agencies of very dubious quality where this kind of URL would be completely acceptable both for the business owner and the agency because both just don't know any better.