Short Takes: Wired’s Brian Chen Hates QR Codes

By Mike Shields • September 22, 2011 •

Brian X. Chen does not like QR codes. He’s not nuts about Netflix either. And he’s worried about the magazine business.

The author of the book “Always On: How the iPhone Unlocked the Anything, Anytime, Anywhere Future — and Locked Us In” delivered a keynote address at Digiday’s mobile conference in New York on Wednesday, during which he called QR codes “weird’ and “impractical.”

Later, the writer opined on the changing face of the media business.

“From my own personal behavior, even when you are browsing Netflix you can never decide what the hell to watch. … It creates an opportunity for a company to come in there and come up with a way better recommendation system.”

Chen has long worked for Wired Magazine. So what about the print business?

“Magazine publishers are still thinking about how to recreate the magazine,” he said. “Just making a visual version of Wired Magazine … I think the people that are more nimble are people like Flipboard. They understand the openness of the Web and making the Web more readable. … I’m not that worried about Web publishing, I’m sure people will partner with Flipboard. I’m worried about magazines at that point.” does not like QR codes. He’s not nuts about Netflix either. And he’s worried about the magazine business at this point.”

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