Android for dummies

or...

is Lucasfilm and sci-fi taking over our daily lives?

Have you noticed this symbol in your daily life appearing on your product packaging lately? Get ready. You're going to see it more and more often.

But... what does it mean?

Is it:

• for aliens only?
• subliminal messaging?
• should we prepare for seeing more of them?
• should we be afraid?
• do marketers think I'm as brainless as an android?

Yes and no. To all those considerations.

In my search for a new smart phone (and not-so-patiently) awaiting the Verizon iPhone release, I've considered the Droid. Yeah. I know. It's not the same- I've already faced that fact.

But... will it recognize these symbols? Yup. And, should I care? Yup. You should, too.

First of all.... that barcode looking thing is called a QR code. What's that? Wikipedia explains it here. In a nutshell- it's a matrix code originating from Japan technology (thus the alien factor) that is steadily invading our everyday technologies and lives (keep your eyes peeled for more). I actually saw (and snapped the one pictured here**) from the Weather Channel®.

Bottom line- will it benefit the general public and is it tracking my moves and uploading my habits and personal choices to some mastermind marketing monopoly? Well- yeah. DUH. Face it. We use the internet and those little cookies are leaving your crumbs all over cyberspace. Marketing geniuses wouldn't be worth their salt if they weren't tracking your preferences i.e what you're: searching for, shopping for, listening to, bookmarking, etc.

If there was a way to use your camera in your phone to snap an image of that QR code into your database (while you're not attached to the networks except through blue-tooth technology) but, rather you're out strolling through the mall: you've essentially "bookmarked" that item and whatever links the manufacturer (and marketers) included. When you access your list of QR codes (when you do finally go online)... there are links and information at your fingertips. Clever, eh?

Yeah. Kinda scary. It's the wave of the future folks. Get ready.

** If you already have a smarter-than-average phone and scan that QR code, please comment and let me know what information it gives you. The city I was checking isn't my hometown and I'd like to know if it indicates that in the links it gives ya.