Apple has set some pretty high standards for themselves; always being on the cutting edge and first out with new and cool stuff. However, even with the improvements to the upcoming iPhone 5; no one can get past their decision not to enable the new phone with NFC technology.
Other countries are starting to use NFC, and here in the states we have been speculating as to who will be the first to come out with it. Mobile manufacturers, credit card companies, banks and software developers have all thrown their hats in the ring as contenders for the title of “first to do it.” Meanwhile, Apple sits back, quietly watching the chaos around them.
Apple has come out with some awesome things, and over the years they have developed almost a cult-like following. But it seems like the cult of NFC may give Apple a black eye. All good deeds and all great things that have been brought to us, courtesy of Apple, were blotted away by the words, “No NFC in iPhone 5.”
It doesn’t matter if they widened the screen or relocated the camera flash. It also doesn’t seem to matter about the rumored HD, video chat on 3g and 4g; a warp speed dual core A5 chip processor, and amazing graphics. No, those things don’t matter. What does matter is that Apple isn’t jumping on the NFC bandwagon.
In all fairness to Apple, we should take a minute to hear their side of the story. The big concern is the lack of any real industry standards being defined for the NFC technology. Additionally, the rumor mill has been turning with the word that Apple is working on its own version of NFC payments that will allow the user to pay via their iTunes account.
Researchers have reported that NFC will add several billions in revenue for high end mobile companies. It would be hard to imagine a business wizard like Steve Jobs turning down that much additional revenue; unless he had something better up his sleeve.
