When one thinks of farming – in the general sense – from a historical perspective, one does not usually immediately conjure thoughts of high-tech web-2.0 information age technology. After all, farming is so much older than most of what we think of as technology. Truth be told, historically, farming has probably been one of the main drivers of technological invention. We wouldn’t have time or care for iPhones and Playstations if we didn’t have harvesters and automatic milking machines. Still, the idea of a farmer using a QR code of all thing to promote his trade is almost beyond comprehension. The fact that this QR code produces a URL from a shortening service only adds layers to the madness. If you want to try out your smartyphone’s QR reader, I won’t ruin it for you. If you can’t be bothered or don’t have a smartyphone (*cough* Professor…) then I’ll just leave this here: (SPOILER -> http://qrs.ly/9v1tbug <- SPOILER select to reveal)
Brilliant.
To the uninitiated, farming is surprisingly high-tech. My BIL's rolling stock will automatically vary seed and fertilizer application rates for various parts of his fields, depending upon soil moisture and historical yields. Calculating those yields is also done automatically by his combine, using GPS. The data is transmitted to the cloud via cellular connectivity in his combine.
So, when does he hitch up the oxen?
When he goes out of town and I do his chores for him. He's certainly not going to let me behind the wheel of any of his super expensive equipment.
OK, we have a farmer dependent on the cloud , and
Wait…what?
Its nice but I'll take more of a maze instead.
Hmph. You guys buy smartphones to get at stuff like that eh?
I have a smartphone but I have no idea what a QR code is.
I've been led to believe my Princess phone is pretty smart:
http://atomictoasters.com/2012/09/boys-life-the-p…
but it's not helping much here, even if I plug it in so the lamp illuminates.
A QR code is a two dimensional bar code.
It can store a lot more information than a bar code (tens of characters instead of a handful of digits).
Most phones with a camera can read them using a dedicated app. For example, on an Android smartphone, look for Barcode Scanner in the Market. It scans regular bar codes and QR codes. For bar codes, it gives you the option to launch a web search for that product: pretty handy for a quick price check while in a store.
QR codes can contain plain text, URLs or even all the information needed to join a WiFi network. There are aps on most platforms (mobile or not) to create your own QR codes.
You could, for example, print one that allows visitors to your house or business to get their phone connected to your WiFi with minimum hassle.
That is truly amazing!!
I know right, anyone that doesn't agree should get lost!
I can get Lost… I got an app for that… But I don't like the show…