QR codes for software distribution
I love how lightweight and error-resistant QR codes are. You can stick them anywhere and display them nearly everywhere. What if we could pack small pieces of contextually relevant software, like to-do apps, chat clients, little maps, and restaurant reservation systems into big QR codes to distribute software? Instead of giving you a download link, I just give you a QR code to scan, and your phone loads the program directly from the code and starts executing.
I want to imagine a future where software isn't necessarily "installed" and "uninstalled", but ephemeral like web apps and situationally delivered to our devices. Little micro pieces of functionality, quickly loaded and unloaded, scooped up by our devices from little tags we can touch in the physical world.
It would be so cool to be able to share a game I made with a friend, by giving them a QR code they can scan whenever they want to play it. No install, no download. Just load it up from the code!
Everything new is also old -- this reminds me of loading up software from floppy disks! But I think it can be different. QR codes can be so much more versatile and ubiquitous, so much more error-resistant, infinitely cheaper, and if delivered on screens, forever changeable. It's also decentralized, in a way. If I give you a QR code, you don't need to rely on some app store being online to use that new program.
One way I can imagine this working is some lightweight "base" app or virtual machine installed on your phone, that can load and execute very compact bytecode from a QR code.