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Comment by jodrellblank | Hacker News Reader

It will need to avoid the pitfalls of the previous technologies. (IR)

Audio, bluetooth, QR codes/camera as well.

All easily capable of data exchange between devices, all present on a vast number of phones, all hobbled by lack of implementation and standards.

Why wont NFC end up just like Bluetooth? "I don't have it switched on" "I don't have the same version" "we need to pair the devices? Mine says it cannot see any" "type in what code where?" "I can only support an NFC headset, not any data transfer protocols", etc.?

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That's a useful list:

    - manual steps
        - device pairing
        - switched on/off
    - incompatibility
        - version incompatibility
        - protocol incompatibility

If they've fixed these problems, it will succeed. If not, then it will be another failed attempt. On the plus side, a lot of scientific, technical, and inventory equipment already does NFC.

I actually thought NFC would solve Bluetooth's major problem: pairing. Right now pairing a device is a pain in the ass - an endless, meandering series of menu diving, waiting, syncing, and not knowing if you're doing the right thing.

Imagine being able to touch your Bluetooth headset to the back of your phone. Or touch your phone to the "sync" patch on a Bluetooth keyboard and have it just do it?

This is a specific use case for NFC, in exactly the way you describe. NFC should be usable for pairing in Bluetooth v2.1.

They are both audio devices. They have speakers and microphones. Why can't they pair modem-style?

I don't think NFC is something that is intended for headsets. The wikipedia page says that its a collection of technologies that typically require 4cm or less distance, which would pretty much defeat the purpose of having a headset.

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