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In the hot space between the tech and marketing worlds there has been some considerable buzz of late about the efficacy of QR codes. QR -- short for Quick Response -- codes are black patterns in a square shape on a white background. These are the codes used by many airlines to check-in for flights using your smart phone.

The information encoded can be a text, a URL or almost any other form of data. When these bar codes are posted in public or private spaces they can be scanned by smart phones so users can get fast, direct access to websites or other online data resources to promote businesses, offer deals, deliver information or just plain advertise. The advantage is the speed and efficiency that smart phone scanning can offers users who may not have time to remember or write down a website address or surf the web to get to the site that features the information that is being promoted. Huge in Japan (where they were conceived in the 90s to as a manufacturing tracking device) and quickly catching on in Europe, QR codes are just making their way to America. It's hard to tell whether this will be Beatlemania Stateside or if this is just another techie trend that won't play in the Peorias between cities like New York and San Francisco.

Not surprisingly, some of the "hippest" industries in the country -- fashion and rock music -- have been some of the first to take the QR code buzz to maximum levels of exposure.

The Music and technology festival South By Southwest, held annually in Austin, TX, is known for introducing the latest technology to the mainstream (like it did for Twitter in '07 and FourSquare in '09) made a headliner out of QR codes. There were QR codes all over the festival, including on the official festival badges. According to Evolver, "QR Codes will be even more 'everywhere' at SXSW 2011 than they were last year, with good reason. As the smartphone-toting throngs stream past posters for bands and tech startups, plenty of potential exists to coax them into linking to websites, apps, videos and free stuff using the codes, which have grown significantly more popular since the crowds last surged through the streets of Austin."

Obviously there are some great advantages to the technology. It's fast and it's made for people "on the go." It integrates web technology and the virtual world with real, physical space. It's eye-catching and it's great for businesses who want to attract new customers or markets that wouldn't otherwise find them.

What QR Codes Can Do For You

Bookmark a website, Make a Phone Call, Send an SMS, Send an E-Mail, Create a vCard, Create a vCalendar Event, Google Maps, iTunes App URL, Foursquare Venue URL, Play a video, send a tweet, and many other forms of data delivery. You are only limited by your imagination.

From erecting a whole new paradigm of marketing and advertising to being an over-hyped false alarm in a tech era that's already peaked, those Americans who even know what QR codes aren't all in agreement about how valid a marketing tool this kind of technology can become in the States. Defenders say it's an absolute necessity for America to keep up with her Eastern and European counterparts on the technological scene; if we aren't going to lead, we best stay in the game as followers, as peers. And then others point to the fact that America is an overwhelmingly automotive commuting country and that QR codes perform best in places with heavy foot traffic like Tokyo, Paris, London… and New York and San Francisco, two of the most atypical American cities in the country in almost every category.