Perhaps a bit tangential, but I find QR codes to be a strange beast. In theory they are a perfectly fine solution to a real problem, but no one wants to scan them in real life. And yet they managed to stay around and flourish, because it's still the best we can do to share links in physical media. And it makes me wonder, are QR codes a bad solution to the problem? Is there a way to share links offline that isn't a nuisance or too much work to bother for the end user? Is it even a good idea to share links in offline media?

One problem might be that they are not inline like links are on the web. One solution to this would be encoding links inside the printed text somehow, but that would require far very accurate cameras and high quality printers.

I'm sure many others too had this idea and it's been done a few to many times before.

I thought it a few years ago, though more so for memorial plaques you see in parks on benches and elsewhere. Also, crosses on the side of the road ... the QR code tells the story of the person being memorialized.

I would think Ancestry.com would get involved with this or buy a start-up successfully jumps into this space.