My purse is no longer a purse.
As the mother of two young boys, my oversized handbag has become a diaper bag, a toy box, a lunchbox, and a garbage bag – as well as the bottomless pit I need to dig through daily to find my keys and cash. When I leave the house, I often have a variety of papers stuffed inside, as well. Anything from flyers and coupons to lists and invitations.
And then there’s my wallet. Driver’s license. Several credit cards. A few loyalty cards. Insurance cards. Tickets. Countless stamp/punch cards. Gift cards. Membership cards galore. It’s not pretty.
My right shoulder hurts from all of the excess weight. There has to be a better way! Thankfully, my days of overabundant clutter may be coming to an end. All I need is a smartphone with NFC technology.
Smartphones are great because they replace the need to carry most flyers, coupons, lists, tickets, and invitations, all the while allowing you to access the internet to find any last-minute info you might be looking for. Smartphones can scan barcodes that are found on advertisements, posters, and landmarks, revealing a wealth of information right at your fingertips. What’s more, is that smartphone apps are so popular with children, parents can get rid of their portable toy stash and just hand over their phones to the kids when the going gets tough.
Now there are NFC tags built into many smartphones, too. NFC tags, or Near Field Communication tags, use wireless technology to transfer data between two devices using wireless radio communication. How do NFC tags work? Each tag is embedded with a microchip that stores information. When two NFC tags touch one another, or are brought within 10 cm or less of one another, the information can be transferred. NFC is similar to RFID (link to my RFID blog) that is often used for tracking inventory, but RFID is long-range, while NFC is short-range.
So what is so great about NFC? NFC technology seemingly has the capacity to replace the need for credit cards, loyalty cards, punch cards, and even…keys! The thought of never having to dig through my purse for keys just makes me smile.
Hmm… I probably shouldn’t get rid of the spare diaper and standby banana, but that’s ok. Just thinking about getting rid of all that other junk is enough for me!