I’ve been aware of NFC for sometime and back in January we published a consumer guide to NFC centred around how I believe it will be the next big thing in mobile. At the weekend I mentored at Launch48 in Birmingham and one of the participants showed me what he was doing with NFC, and all I could say was “Wow!”
It seems unlikely to think that some of the more popular mobile apps would be taking personal and private data from your mobile and storing it on their own servers for whatever purpose they deem appropriate, but it appears that this is exactly what has been happening without either your permission or your knowledge.
I’ve had the Linkedin app installed on my BlackBerry for some time now, as I make extensive use of the social network for business. It has to be said though, considering that Blackberry has always been considered as ‘the phone of choice’ for business use, the Linkedin app is truly awful, and is a pale imitation of its iPhone and Android counterparts.
I do not think that anyone can dispute that Steve Jobs was a visionary. He took an under-performing company and through his tenacity and vision created a brand and suite of products that many people would pay any price to own. What other companies would enjoy admired celebrities such as Stephen Fry, voluntarily singing, nay, worshipping the products that you produce? But please, do not try and be like Steve Jobs!
The technology that drives NFC has been around for a while now. You’ll have no doubt been into retail stores that have scanners on the door and all the merchandise has a little electronic device attached – that is essential NFC technology at work. So why is this important to you and what does it have to do with your mobile telephone?
I’ve always loved the fact that my BlackBerry has a real keyboard, I don’t feel an on-screen equivalent can compete. I will also miss how tightly it integrates with Outlook, even though RIM still sticks with their dubious decision to cripple the functionality when not linked to Microsoft Exchange. However, these are sacrifices I am willing to take, which goes someway to showing how disillusioned I have become with RIM’s flagship brand.