How Smartphones Changed 'Scanning' Forever
Scanning Was Once Expert-Only
Before smartphones, reading patterns required dedicated scanners costing tens of thousands of yen - tools only for factory workers, logistics staff, and hospital employees. The 2007 iPhone put a high-performance camera, processing power, and internet connection in everyone's pocket.
2017: The Tipping Point
Apple's iOS 11 added native pattern scanning to the standard Camera app - no app install needed. This 'zero-step' experience exploded usage. Google followed with Android. The entire global smartphone user base could now scan patterns.
Smartphone Penetration Equals Scanning Capability
Global smartphone penetration reached 68% (5.5 billion people) in 2024. In developing countries, smartphone-based pattern payments (Kenya's M-Pesa, India's UPI) gave hundreds of millions their first access to financial services - no ATMs or card readers needed.
Things Impossible Before Smartphones
Restaurant menu scanning, coupon retrieval from flyers, instant contact saving from business cards - all require universal scanner ownership. The flip side: those without smartphones are excluded, creating digital divide concerns.
When a tool becomes familiar, uses are born
In the era when the tool for reading belonged to some experts, the uses of codes were also limited. However, when everyone came to carry a reader in their pocket, the situation changed completely. New uses were born one after another, such as paying at shops, displaying guidance, adding friends, and presenting tickets. This is not because the technology itself changed greatly. Because the tool for reading became familiar, scenes of use that had not been thought of until then opened up all at once. You could say it is a good example of the spread of a tool widening people's ideas and giving rise to new habits.
The meaning of everyone being able to use it
That everyone can use the same mechanism without special training or dedicated devices. This is decisively important for technology to take root widely in society. If reading belonged only to some people, codes would be useful only at limited sites. However, because many people, regardless of age or occupation, came to use it as a matter of course, codes changed into everyday infrastructure. Only when the condition of everyone being able to use it is met does a convenient mechanism cease to be something special and become a foundation that quietly supports living. The value of technology is completed by being used widely.
Next: AR Glasses?
AR glasses (Apple Vision Pro, Meta Ray-Ban) could eliminate even the 'take out phone' step, automatically reading patterns in your field of view. But price, battery life, and social acceptance challenges mean smartphones will remain the primary scanner for years to come.