 This is now my 2nd week in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It’s fascinating to see how culture affects technology. For example, QR codes are everywhere. You order food with QR codes. You pay money with QR codes. You find out news from QR codes too. If I were active in the Malaysian tech scene, I’d explore how the Fediverse can make use of QR codes—that would probably help adoption immensely. 27 comments
@olavf Just telling you how it works here. A lot of Malaysians depend on QR codes to get by.  @atomicpoet be that as it may, a QR can be a menu, a rickroll, or malware. But they're great if you trust the source. I mean the Dutch Bros app has a digital wallet QR where the scan for my coffee + tip ($2 or 20%) @atomicpoet QR code is also heavily used in Indonesia, from checking in to locations, scanning menus, marketing campaigns, to all kinds of payment. There is a regional effort to bring all commercial QR code usage across Southeast Asia under one standard spearheaded by Indonesia. @cendawanita @brennansv Where I live, the trend is more towards NFC payments, especially via Apple Wallet or Google Pay. Which also works here in Malaysia—but people are surprised that it works. @atomicpoet @cendawanita @brennansv What I feel Malaysia has over Canada is more options for prepaid services, which is fantastic.  @atomicpoet @atomicpoet @cendawanita Sometimes countries like US and Canada are able to adopt new technologies early with a lot of investment then other countries get the tech later after it is refined and costs have come down. In a way they get to skip all the rouge edges and spend less to get the same stuff. @atomicpoet @cendawanita We have Clipper for public transit here which is a touches system but people still press their cards against the surface all the time. I have my Clipper card set up with my Apple Watch and I just bring it close enough to make that noise. It’s so convenient. @cendawanita @brennansv In Canada, there’s a service called Interac. It behaves like a credit card, and even gives you a credit card number, but it debits your bank account. You can use Interac with Apple Wallet. However, it’s useless for traveling. @atomicpoet I use this a lot when travelling because it's an ewallet but the credit card is basically a debit card, and because it deducts from the wallet i have another layer of protection so it doesn't harm my actual savings. (And i can reload with my credit card balance) @cendawanita @brennansv Interac is kind of similar. Here’s more info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interac?wprov=sfti1 @atomicpoet @atomicpoet @cendawanita I used travelers checks on one trip many years ago. These days I’d like to load up a digital wallet with whatever crypto is used at my destination and just use that. No exchange fees or conversions needed. I’ve gone to festivals where you can only get food and drinks using the tickets you buy from the organizers. It would be sort of like that, but a digital currency. I’ve read of this sort of system being created already but have never seen it in use.  @atomicpoet @cendawanita @brennansv Most banks in Europe give you a card that works both as a credit card and as the common debit & prepaid card standard (Bancomat). The credit side is also associated with your bank account, so it's usually covered automatically at the end of the month unless this would result in an overdraw. @atomicpoet @cendawanita @brennansv Apple Pay only entered here end of last year & is still limited to just a few banks (plus iPhones have never been that dominant here). Samsung Pay never really caught on. I think digital payment systems as a whole only really became commonplace during the pandemic. @atomicpoet @atomicpoet It's really convenient to have all these qr codes. I accidentally left my wallet at home when I went to pick up my car from the mechanic. I just scanned the qr and paid using my phone. @atomicpoet @atomicpoet isn't it a bit of a security risk? QR codes could be a trojan horse like a rogue usb stick (not quite that bad but you know what i mean) @atomicpoet I seriously hate them. Especially QR code restaurant menus and ordering systems 🙃  @atomicpoet I love the concept of QR codes but the IRL implementation has left be too suspicious to use then without pause. I’ll use them when I trust the source and even then only sparingly. @atomicpoet KL is a fabulous and sophisticated city - I've been there several times. Fantastic food, great roads (note how all the freeways have an entirely separate section for cyclists/motorcyclists - fabulous!) and lovely people. I love the place - enjoy! @atomicpoet we have the capability in the US, but no one service or app is in a position to monopolize. Bad for convenience but good for the users in some ways. None are superior to credit cards when it comes to legal protection from fraud, though. Venmo, Zelle, PayPal, Apple, Samsung, etc. |
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@atomicpoet year before last, I put a QR code on our holiday cards. It was a Rick-roll. Never scan a QR code you can't trust.