How is NFC a game changer?

NFC is dying rapidly. Apple was 100% correct in NOT adopting it. It won't be around in another year or 2. Apple will have they're own payment system and using entirely different text like BT.

 

For me, not having NFC isn't a big deal. I don't think I have ever been some place that uses it for payments, etc.

 

I'm not sure why people act like Apple is stupid for not implementing it. If it's such a great feature and it's in a bunch of Android phones, including the Galaxy line, wouldn't it have taken off by now?

 

Payment
Physical key replacement - door, car, hotel room, etc...
File transfer - I'm not excited about this use case but some are because the micro range is considered more secure
Replace QR code - No more taking pictures of barcodes
Single sign on - OpenID or otherwise.

In essence, being able to identify yourself without having to explicitly interact and setup with the other system.

 

No idea..never used it or been in a situation where I could have.

 

I'm not sure about that, I have used NFC more than expected and if Apple adopted it they would make it even more popular. I see more and more devices using NFC rather then less.

I've Used NFC to:
1) Automatically pair bluetooth headset.
2) Used NFC as payment at places that use Mastercard quick-pass (CVS, Circle K, etc...) via Google Wallet.
3) Used NFC to pair/transfer photos from my Sony RX100M2 to smartphone and tablet (Nexus 4/7). Yes I still carry around the point and shoot, Google RX100M2 and you will see why.

It would be nice if more places had Mastercard quick-pass - they would if Apple adopted it. My wife currently is using a case to hold her credit cards, and she would certainly love it if they standardized a payment system for the good of the consumer rather then trying to hold out / win the mobile payment race.

 

NFC dying? In Taipei, Taiwan, you go to a public parking lot and you get a poker chip when you drive in the gate. You go shop or whatever and when you are done, you put your poker chip in a vending machine and the nfc in your poker chip lets the system know when you arrived and the amount you owe shows on the screen, typically less than $100NT for an hour in off peak times. When you pay, you get the poker chip back, only this time it's coded to let you through the gate so you can exit he parking lot. And yes there's an attendant for those who lost their chip, etc, but the sheer throughput at the exit indicates 99% of cars are having no problem with the system.

We are so freaking backwards here. Remember that stupid Mobil Speedpass thing? I remember being so happy about it. No more fumbling for a card in -40 degree weather. Then the banks decided we needed to punch in our zip codes to make a purchase. So the whole point of speedpass became moot. I still see the antennas but I hardly ever see anyone use them. Sometimes we are slow to adopt technology not so much because it doesn't make sense but rather because the bankers and lawyers are standing in the way.

One thing NFC will bring someday is checkout elimination. You simply load up your cart and lug your stuff to your car. The nfc in all the items in your cart gets associated with the nfc in your wallet/phone and your stuff is paid for and as you approach, a pleasant chime goes off and the light at the exit door of the store turns green, letting the staff know there is no need to audit your stuff.

I can understand Apple waiting to deal with nfc because there isn't that much widespread adoption just yet but to claim it is dead is off base. Perhaps you might remember a time when nobody dreamed it would be cost effective to put all those magnetic strip readers on EVERY SINGLE GAS PUMP? BTW, there is nfc in your passport and some driver's licenses so it's not going anywhere anytime soon.

Another fact is that there are almost a billion iThings. Apple really is the 800 pound gorilla in the smartphone world. Google not so much. Samsung is gaining but not on par just yet. When and if Apple decides to offer nfc, it will begin to get much wider adoption.

 

not a make or break deal for me. don't care for it not would I have the situation on using it that I'm aware of?

 

NFC may not be a game changer in the US. But in other areas, particularly Europe and SE Asia, NFC is used daily for things like paying for public transportation, buying stuff, etc.

 

From experience I can say that file transfer over NFC is just about as useless. I tried to transfer photos/videos individually from my old galaxy nexus to the nexus 4 and only a few would transfer. Apparently NFC has a limited file size limit.

 

I'm sorry, I love Apple but Passbook is a joke. I want to be able to walk into a store and not worry about a Passbook app specific to the store. And I certainly don't want to bring up a screen for someone to scan. Passbook doesn't come close to offering the same thing.

Hotels are already migrating to NFC so... As for cars it will take time but it will happen. In fact BMW implemented NFC into one of their car keys and partnered with a hotel to double it as a hotel key.

For sure but this use case for NFC is more secure and doesn't require setup. Not that I want to bump phones to transfer files but it does have advantage over AirDrop.

Wired already did this... old news.

Single sign on to what? The iPhone? Thats not single sign on. Single sign on would be signing into the iPhone and having that sign into the kiosk in front of you. FP sensor doesn't do that on its own.

The possibilities are pretty cool with NFC. You just have to expand your mind and imagination beyond what Apple tells you.

 

It's funny because we (Europeans) always say NFC isn't big here, but is much more widespread in the US

 

I think Apple is the one vendor that has the clout to make NFC work in the US. I suspect they are waiting until they can control it end to end before they implement it.

 

It is one thing having an open mind and being imaginative. Developing something and making it work easy, secure, and having something generally accepted/adopted is completely different. I'm not saying NFC is done, but it certainly has failed to expand to even a small percentage of population.

 

depends on where you live.

 

NFC is DOA!!!

 

It is pretty done to me. Most people I know that have NFC on androids don't even give a rip about it.

 

This is what happens when a company(Samsung) that throws features in a phone for the sake of market share.

 

Perhaps you mean Detroit instead of the US. There's a garage here in Tampa that has a chipcoin system and it sucks. It's across from the Tampa Times Forum (where the Lightning play) and there are only a few kiosks to pay at. Sometimes it's quick, but when any of them break it takes FOREVER to leave because the kiosks are slower than people. Once I got stuck in line for over an hour (with only about 60 people) because they were slow to accept credit cards that day. We started to cheer when people could pay with cash, and people who only had cards publicly apologized. It's probably the same system in use in your example.

You also only get 10 minutes to leave. Luckily they waive it for game days.

Even when it all works, it's still slower than just paying the attendant. Unfortunately this replaced all of the attendants so when things break it takes forever. The only benefit is that it's easier to get validated parking since all you have to do is walk in someplace and scan the coin.

Perhaps having NFC on your phone would work better, but municipal garages are going to hold out forever on systems like chipcoin because they're harder to skirt than an NFC device you can program to give whatever information you desire.

Anyway, I just thought you should know that there are places in the US that aren't "backward" according to your standard. I also thought you should know that sometimes this glamorous use of technology is worse than what existed before. It just allows people to save money and cut entry-level jobs—at the cost of the consumer.

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I'm pretty sure it's mostly big in Asia. I've only seen a few of the scanners for whatever card it is that offers it. I remember thinking it was neat years ago. Now I can't even remember the last time I saw it in real life or even in an ad.

I wouldn't mind it being more widely available although I also have privacy concerns.

Passbook makes more sense. It knows the right thing to use by location, it's easier/cheaper to design for and much more of the infrastructure is already in place. But even it has failed to gain traction (in company support mostly).

If Apple can't get it accomplished with all of that in place, how can people think Apple can ever popularize NFC? And Apple's share numbers are a lot less than android phones—maybe not than NFC androids, but that won't take long. If the market is there Apple will capitalize like it always does. If not, they won't support NFC just like they avoided Blu-Ray.

 

Tired of people calling things "game changers"

 

NFC is widespread in payment cards for transportation in the UK, but ask the average person what NFC is and they couldn't tell you. When I explain to people, even those not technophobic, they get it even if they're not overly excited.

I had a conversation once with someone who works with NFC software and was told those built into phones took over twice as long to work on say Transport For London's Oyster system than the cards. It wasn't slow, but with thousands of commuters at peak time, it would be enough to help build congestion at gates.

The only people I've seem excited by it are anti-Apple geeks and those who are drawn in by new technologies, those that are desperate for a touch screen computer then use it once in a blue moon.

 

I've yet to be put into a situation where NFC on my phone would've provided convenience, and within the past 2 years I've been to Chicago, Orlando, Nashville, NYC, Chattanooga, Birmingham...

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It's simple. NFC is not a game changer.