Death of The QR Code?

I've recently gotten interested in QR codes and how they can be used for marketing. While doing some research, I came across an article claiming "THE DEATH OF THE QR CODE."

http://marketingland.com/the-death-of-the-qr-code-37902

This article goes on to bemoan the various issues with QR Codes and how the author is not satisfied with the level of adoption yet, and that he sees some major problems as contributing to why it has yet to take off:

5 Reasons For The Death Of QR Codes

• Apple and Android have yet to ship a phone with a QR reader pre-loaded. This is — and will be — a deal breaker in most cases, given the fact that these two mobile platforms accounted for north of 87.6% of all smart phones sold worldwide in 2012.
• In many cases, the mobile experience sitting behind the QR code is a disappointment. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried scanning these codes only to be taken to non-mobile optimized sites, or worse, to a site where I scratched my head wondering what the connection to the original call-to-action was.
• Some QR codes end up in places with no wifi or connectivity on your phone (airplane, subway station). This is an obvious fail.
• Many consumer packaged goods companies feel that committing valuable space on their label/packaging to a standard UPC code and a QR code is overkill. And, in many cases, they focus on leveraging the UPC bar code to connect to an online experience (Weight Watchers’ mobile application lets you scan bar codes to give you nutritional information and provides number of “points” in a particular product).
• Even when a QR code is done right (link to mobile-optimized site, available connectivity, clear call-to-action), it’s hard to convince oneself that the minute it takes to pull out your phone, open up a scan-friendly app (assuming one had been downloaded), scan the QR code and then wait for the experience to load, is worth it.

Looking at the reasons above, I can see why QR codes have had some issues becoming the darling that many hoped they would be. Apple and Android not preloading a QR reader is definitely a huge part of the problem. The other consistent problem I see in his reasoning is bad usage of QR codes.

While it would be ideal to think that people are so engaged with brands that they would just scan various QR codes in hopes of discovering more engaging content, this seems slightly idealistic. Instead, where I see QR codes being powerful or useful is for making offers. So if the messaging on the ad says to scan this QR code for a special discount or promotional offer that would otherwise not be available, I believe we'd see much higher rates of usage with QR codes. This would also increase brand engagement as one could make an offer and also present the relevant messaging they are hoping to get the target customer to see.

So, don't write off QR codes just yet, as I believe technological progress and more creative, logical uses of QR codes will allow them to become a relevant part of the marketing ecosystem for certain products and companies.