Friday, January 06, 2023

QR Codes In Restaurants

I agree, I don't like having to scan a QR code to read a restaurant menu on my phone:


A couple things.  First, I don't think too many restaurants do this so they can change the pricing quickly and often.  Why do I think that?  Because most of the menus I see on my phone are just pdf's of the old school menu--although sometimes you're taken to a web site, but I have a hard time believing someone is constantly adjusting prices on a web site.

And second, while I understand the possibility that someone could put a fake QR code on your table and thereby install malicious software on your phone, my visit to a restaurant in Coyoacán this past week showed what I thought was a reasonably unhackable way to display the QR code:

click to enlarge


No one's going to laser-cut blocks of wood and swap them out with the restaurant's just to install malicious software!

I still want a handheld menu, for a variety of reasons, but I thought this block was cool.

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