Phase 7

1. NFC Technology: 6 Ways It Could Change Our Daily Lives
Home : Mashable (http://mashable.com/)
Article : http://mashable.com/2010/05/06/near-field-communication/

Credibility: Mashable is a pretty well known news website.  The article includes an author with a bio that lists where she attended college.  The author has written numerous articles for the website,  mostly on technology.  The article is also fairly recent, posted in May of 2010.

Reflection: I think this is a good source for my audience because it introduces a few more uses of NFC that I have not covered yet or have not covered with much detail.

Summary: In her article, "NFC Technology: 6 Ways It Could Change Our Daily Lives," Sarah Kessler tells of six ways we can use NFC.  She begins by giving some background on the technology, explaining that it is not that new of a technology.  She continues, explaining how companies such as Microsoft, Sony and Samsung have been involved in popularizing the technology since as far back as 2004.  Kessler then gives a short description of NFC defining it as a way for two devices to share information, at close range, with an effortless touch of the devices.  She expresses then, that NFC has not been fast to get big, but she thinks it is going to take on in the near future.

      Next, Kessler moves into what she believes are six top advantages of having NFC.  First, she starts off with the common benefit, payment.  She says that this is a good use for NFC because of NFC's short range aspect that allows for a more secure connection.   She also gives an illustration of how two MIT students developed an application that saved loyalty card information and brought up the correct card information instantly when making a purchase.  Next, she discusses how it will be useful in transportation, explaining how a German company used NFC for recording the train use and fares of individuals, later tallying up the cost for a monthly payment.  Another way she said the use of NFC was beneficial is in health care.  Kessler said it could be used at a hospital to record and distribute medical treatment information and also keep track of the care a patient is receiving.  The fourth example she gives is "ease of use." Stating that you'll be able to do thing like print from your phone by touching it to the printer and beginning linked multi-player games.  "Smart objects" is another good possibility for NFC she says.  Kessler goes on to say that customers could use their phones to order refreshments, use as a ticket to a play or get information from a poster about the play.  She also says you could use you phone to swipe by a tag that gives information on schedules and announcements at a school.  She also informs us that a company has made NFC tags for gravestones that can be used to give pictures and a life story to people who scan them.  The last example Kessler gives is "social media."  She proposes that it could be used for location purposes, enabling to people to meet somewhere, tap there phones together, then share on a social networking website where and who they met with.  Then they would receive personal information about the other so they could learn a little bit more and have a conversation starter. 


Response: Kessler, in the beginning of her article, suggests that NFC will become big and popular soon.  From what I have seen and researched, devices with NFC are going to explode into the market starting this year, but what remains up in the air is how many businesses will adopt the technology so that we can really use it for all the things listed.  Kessler also gives these six ways in which she thinks it will be useful; "Contactless Payment," "Transportation," "Health Care," "Ease of Use," "Smart Objects" and "Social Media."  With "Contactless Payment," she believes since NFC is a short-range technology, it will be secure.  It will certainly help that it's short-range, but I think that there could be some other security issues that could come up that wouldn't matter if it was a short or long-range technology.  I do, however, agree that overall, paying with just a swipe with your phone and taking care of you coupons and loyalty card at the same time will be a quite nice aspect of having NFC in your phone.  With "Transportation," I also think that this is another valid use.  This is most beneficial for people who travel often or live in the city.  Just swiping your phone to pay every time you get on and off a bus or in an out of a taxi would save time and just be more convenient.  Same for scanning a passport or ticket at an airport.  With "Health Care," Kessler says it would permit you to scan and get information on the medical treatment needs of a patient.  I don't see this as a very legitimate use of NFC but perhaps there is another, better way to incorporate it into the medical world.  With "Ease of Use" she offers that you will be able to print photos by touching your phone to a printer or join connected games by touching the phones together.  There are numerous other ways that NFC could be useful in making things easier, such as tapping you phone so a set of speakers to start playing music.  Also, with "Smart Objects," Kessler gives a few examples that make for easier access of information.  Another example of a "smart object" is Sony's Xperia smart tags that if swiped by with your phone, can change settings and start applications.  So, say you get up in the morning and you want to check the weather, turn on wi-fi for internet and turn your ringer back on, all you have to do is swipe your phone by the tag and it will automatically do all this for you.  And if you were getting in bed  to go to sleep and you wanted to check Facebook one last time, then turn off all the extra stuff that uses battery like GPS and wi-fi, and set your alarm for 7:15 AM, you could do that too.  Lastly, with "Social Media," Kessler gives a few examples that make sharing social information easier.  She says you could use it to check in and send an automatic status update when meet someone or go somewhere.  This could also be a nice little feature that saves time and keeps you more up-to-date with what you are doing.