[darkwater]

This infuriates me. You are using a QR exactly to easily share a (long) link, why the hell you need to use a link shortener? Why is the market for small shops, restaurants, bars, small museums, small towns etc so riddled with technically incompetent people?

[crazygringo]

> easily share a (long) link, why the hell you need to use a link shortener?

Because it makes the QR code simpler (less "pixels") and therefore more robust. Given the same physical size, scratches affect it less, and a phone can read it from further away. You want to avoid long links in QR codes whenever possible.

The other thing is analytics, of course. You can generate 10 different small QR codes that lead to the same long URL, to find out where they're getting scanned, so you know which locations are popular and worthwhile and which ones are not.

And maybe don't criticize restaurant owners for being technically incompetent? I'm sure they would find you just as incompetent at cooking at scale.

[creatonez]

> And maybe don't criticize restaurant owners for being technically incompetent?

Most QR code menus are entirely managed by just one company that is effectively a monopoly. It's not the restaurant staff making these terrible, it's the digital services provider.

[darkwater]

I'm criticizing QR providers of restaurants owners for being incompetent. I will also criticize restaurants that give you only the QR option for the menu and the menu is a PDF unreadable on a mobile screen (whoever decided that).

[wiradikusuma]

Sometimes, because the service sneakily shortens the link. I wanted to share a WIP whitelabel ticket sales platform ( https://pentas.id ) with a friend. I didn't have time to build the logic to generate QR code, so I just googled "online QR generator". I pasted my link, a QR code was generated. When I tried it using Pixel's Camera app, the preview is NOT my link. Although when I tap it, it eventually goes to my link.

[password4321]

Next time, site:github.com that search and find a demo page like https://www.nayuki.io/page/qr-code-generator-library!

[devmandan]

Yup. Dark patterns exist with QR code hosting services. It's revolting.

[AStonesThrow]

> I didn't have [money], so I just [had someone else pay to generate a QR].

Fixed that for you. If you are using free stuff that you google-searched, then you're the product.

[dvdkon]

A paid service/app would surely never pull such a trick, right?

It sadly requires a lot of vigilance not to fall for these "petty deceptions".

[pimlottc]

Being able to change the destination URL is one reason to use a redirect. Many users do not control their tech infrastructure, or have the knowledge to create redirects. This allows them to update or change content without changing their QR codes.

[darkwater]

I could buy that, but also the QR and the destination website are usually done by the same web agency. The issue is that probably the web agency is externalizing itself the QR thing, or try to centralize all their clients in the same system.

[fragmede]

because they want the analytics the eg bit.ly packages up nicely for them. The software that's missing (though tbh, I Haven looked) is the let's encrypt certbot for doing your own analytics that a link shortener would get you.