Why do I want to open anything? Since there is a lack of imagination here I'll lead the way.
Picture the Apple equivalent to Google Wallet. Rather than opening up and up, bringing up the right screen and turning the screen to a scanner you double verify your FP, telling the phone you are paying for something. NFC touch and done. You never even turned on the screen...
THAT is a seamless user experience. That is Apple.
Unless you're using a system integrated feature (I.E. Google Wallet), the app is still required. Say for instance a museum has work on display, and their app has a built in QR reader and NFC support. For the QR, just open the app and scan the QR. For NFC, you have to tap the object, and then tell the phone to open the app. Either way you are still required to open the app.
I've also used Google Wallet before (yes I have devices with NFC, shocker!), and I'm still required to enter my pin, confirm, and use the device to pay. The difference was I didn't have to take out my card from my wallet. This was only once in a small rural area. Maybe Google Wallet has updated since then, but for the sake of security I doubt it.
Or imagine using tickets for a sporting event or air flight. With Passbook or the Galaxy Passbook ripoff whatever thing, when I arrive to the location, using iBeacons or location services, the card pops up on the lock screen and I can present it right away. With NFC, I have to tap the location, and then open the app. If the location I'm at doesn't support location services or iBeacons (say a makeshift stadium), I can just open the passbook app and choose the card, or tap my phone and open the app. It's not beneficial.
As someone that travels every at least a couple times a month I would love this. Walk into the Hyatt late at night. I've already checked in on the cab ride over, and I can go straight to my room... No waiting, no keys to lose, nothing else to stuff in my wallet.
Fair enough, I will give you that, but many hotels have not adopted such a system. Maybe some high end ones, but nearly every hotel I've stayed at under many of the most chains (Hilton, Gaylord, Hampton, Holiday, etc.) have not had such a system, despite NFC being around in devices since around 2010-2011.
Again, so you either broadcast to everyone or to explicitly setup with someone ahead of time. If I see 'Steve' for the first time in a while do I want to setup a connection to his phone to share contact info? Hell no.
Don't get me wrong, AirDrop is cool. It is great to share files with people you regularly interact with. It is not great to share files with people you don't because it requires setup or broadcast.
Again, I'm going to try to explain AirDrop to you.
Say I have a photo. I am in a room with my friends Dillon and George. I want to send them a photo. I pull up the share sheet on my iDevice, and look, Dillon and George's icons are there. I simply tap those two, and send it to them. They pull out their phones and choose to accept the file transfer. Now comes along Jeff. Jeff is a hacker who wants to brick our phones. He tries to send me malicious code. He sends it to Dillon and I, but we don't know who that is or don't want it, so we choose deny. Since George has his set to contacts only, so Jeff doesn't even see him as a choice to send it to.
With NFC, to share my file, I have to tap each of their phones individually. Jeff comes along and tries to sneak the code onto my phone. He can easily sneak up behind me and touch our phones, or pretend he's just sending a photo since when you share with Beam there's no real preview, unlike AirDrop.
NFC doesn't require authentication, but requires contact and only does one person at a time.. No setup is required past turning the feature on.
AirDrop requires a simple accept/deny authentication, but can be used without requiring contact and can be sent to multiple people. No setup is required past turning the feature on and you are given additional security options if you wish.
AirDrop > Using NFC to establish a connection
Proven and practical, just not in your eyes. Just like many people believes that cars were not proven or practical.
If it's proven and practical, then why is it not widespread? Why is it that very very few people use NFC? Why is it that things like QR Codes and low-bluetooth emitters are more popular than NFC?
Also, education time. People didn't think cars weren't proven or practical. Cars weren't popular because they were
VERY expensive. Cars were handbuilt and had buyer-specific specifications, down to the exact engine parts. After the Ford Model T came out, ownership of cars went up because the Model T was the first mass-produced vehicle, giving it an extremely low cost compared to other vehicles and was much more accessible. Cars had already been proven and were extremely practical. NFC on the other hand....
Again there are examples of systems that already support this but I'm more interested in the systems that don't support it.
I'll lead again... I'm waiting in line at the movie theater for snacks. Wouldn't it be cool to make the list on your phone while you wait and once you get to the register place your order and pay instantly? NFC enables this type of interaction because you can interact with that specific instance of the service (instead of other registers) and it knows instantly who you are, what you want, and that you have paid for it.
1) If you're talking about mobile payments, see above.
2) If you're talking about using your phone to place and order and having it ready by the time you get to the counter, NFC is not required to do this at all.
Your making the case that we don't need NFC because nothing supports NFC (which isn't accurate). NFC is an enabler for a more seamless interaction between systems. With just a little imagination I'm sure you can come up with a dozen systems you interact with every day that NFC would speed up or make more seamless.
I'm not saying NFC isn't needed because nothing supports it, I'm saying NFC isn't needed because there's no widespread support AND the fact that there are more logical and practical solutions to the point that,
at this time, NFC is not something that is a concerning feature.
I didn't skirt it at all but if you are really interested in what kiosks I log into...
Airport checkin - More practical with Passbook
Library book checkout - Can be done without NFC. More practical with Passbook. I do this already.
Hotel checkin - Fair enough.
Movie theater tickets - More practical with Passbook
Safeway self checkout or Home Depot (the two most common ones I interact with) - I can see how it would be used but I don't see any added connivence.
Bank ATMs - So basically you want your bank account less secure?
Security checkpoints (many customers I visit have checkin kiosks) - Many security providers are not going to authorize your mobile device, for obvious security reasons. Not practical.
NYC subway pass when I visit well... NYC - Easily accomplishable without NFC.
My dry cleaner has a ticket scanning kiosk to bring your clothes to the front (I hate losing those things) More practical with Passbook
Garage parking - More practical with Passbook
Redbox - I don't see how this makes sense at all
Photo kiosk at Walgreens - I don't see how this makes sense at all
Sprint kiosk in the movie theater (free popcorn, yum) - What?
Gas pumps (yep, those are kiosks) - I don't see how this makes sense at all
The damn kiosk at the Verizon store that I can never remember my password to... grrr - I don't see how this makes sense at all
Now, think of it in terms of multiple instances of a system, an ATM for example. I want money. I not only need to identify myself to the bank and I need the bank to know which ATM to spit the money out of. NFC is capable of connecting those two things (my identity and the instance of the system I want to interact with) in a seamless way.
You have no idea what you're talking about here, do you?
Again, apples and oranges (no pun intended). Why is it a question of BT vs. NFC. BT serves a different purpose today with a very different design. When I walk up to a kiosk or some system I want to interact with I don't want to 'pair' my phone to it. I want that setup to be natural. NFC enables this be ensuring the communication distance is so short that with a high degree of certainty setup can be implied.
BT may evolve to this with a different set of standards but the point is it's not something the iPhone supports today and there are endless use cases for it.
Low-Bluetooth works exactly like NFC does while offering more capabilities and easier ways to access it (for example iBeacons).
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Come on. Really?
I linked a video of a guy using Google Wallet at a lot of those places.
What other info could I possibly provide?
Because one person has gone to a lot of places does not mean it's widespread.
Tell me how many people you see use NFC on a daily basis.
I am not saying NFC is bad. NFC is not practical because it's not a widespread utility and there are alternatives that work better and are more universal. In the future NFC may become a more practical method for various things, but right now it hasn't proven itself to be a better mechanic.
I have devices with NFC, but I've seldom been put in a situation where NFC was more convenient than Passbook, QR, Low-Bluetooth, etc.