"if the human readable part is machine readable, there's no need for a separate machine only readable region"
So why are physical venues in 2025 presenting me with QR codes? If there is some randomish number (like another commented pointed out QRs may have a UUID number) or a checksum, then encode those randomish bits as a dotted rectangular outline or a line underneath, so a big QR doesn't ruin my human experience.
I have no idea which restaurants your frequent but take it up with them, not me. having a url written out http://restaurantname.com/menu on a sign that you can take a picture of and click on is functionally the same as a having a qr code that links to the exact same url
Having a short url like restaurantname.menu is not simply functionally the same as a qr code. A QR code is almost meaningless for me to look at...all that it says is that that there is a code hidden within these dots and I maybe can infer that the code contains a url to a menu (and maybe contains random tracking stuff). But restaurantname.menu in text communicates to me that these letters are almost certainly a url for a menu for restaruantname, and it is something that I can verbally say to the other people at my table and remember in my head.
Scanning a QR code is far faster than typing a URL, and you need some sort of a computer to access the URL anyway, so providing a human-readable URL doesn't achieve anything.
A relatively short url like restaurantname.menu is something a human can say and remember, so it does achieve something more useful than a QR code. I might even be able to type or speak a short url quicker into my phone than for me to find the QR code reader feature in my phone and point and hold my phone still.
If they get you to use that QR code, they will get you to visit a URL and maybe show you ads, or sell your information to trackers. I mean with your tracking cookie, you visited a physical location, that's gotta be worth something.
In theory, if every QR in the building was different and they had the right sensors, they could also try to pair your browser fingerprint to your Bluetooth Mac, WiFi Mac, and your face. That pairing would have value on its own.
A simple short human-readable text url that a human can say and remember is not going to have a bunch of ".php?q=trackingcode&..." nonsense (though of course other trackers like cookies may still exist).
I don't know why the parent is getting downvoted...they bring a up very good point that hidden inside these QR codes are a bunch of tracking bits and the QR's ability to include tracking stuff may sadly be a significant reason why we see QRs way too much.
So why are physical venues in 2025 presenting me with QR codes? If there is some randomish number (like another commented pointed out QRs may have a UUID number) or a checksum, then encode those randomish bits as a dotted rectangular outline or a line underneath, so a big QR doesn't ruin my human experience.