The QR (Quick Response) code is an output device that allows the creator of the code to more efficiently communicate a message. Kneese (2014) sated “The QR code’s history is intrinsically tied to a quest for efficiency.” In business, QR code efficiencies can be achieved through space savings in advertising and by saving customers’ time. A few key words in a print ad can spark a customer’s interest, they can scan the QR code, and then read it later. The QR code allows the customer to scan, and then to quickly be on their way.

     Kneese (2014) wrote about a unique use for QR codes: encoding information and applying the QR code to a memorial headstone at a cemetery. I live in Georgia, but many of my family members lived and died in California. I rarely travel to California:

     Families now often live in geographically disparate areas, meaning that frequently                               visiting gravesites is not a possibility. QR codes on headstones link a gravesite in one geographic       location to a virtual public space that can be accessed from anywhere, allowing graveyard                   visitors and those from afar to link to the same memorial website while inducing a sense of shared        experience.

Accessing a QR code with information on my dead family members would allow me to feel closer to them and help to facilitate genealogy work.

Like any technology, the use of QR codes may become obsolete. Kneese (2014) explains threats to the endurance of utilizing QR codes as a means for communicating:

     QR codes rely on the persistent value of the object in which they are embedded. QR codes rely on       many mundane but crucial pieces of infrastructure to continue operating: the computer vision             software that detects and decodes the code; the maintenance of links or domain registrations of           the associated websites; the ongoing operation of the websites themselves; and even the                       persistence of the basic infrastructure of the web.

If one or more of the threats where to manifest themselves, the QR code could become obsolete. 

Kneese, Tamara (2014, May 21). QR Codes for the Dead: Graveyards are 

     becoming smart spaces, but will today's technology last for eternity? The Atlantic.                                 Retrieved from 

     https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/05/qr-codes-for-the-dead/370901/