Near field communication (NFC) was a hot topic this past year. It’s said that NFC will revolutionize how we interact with payment and ID transactions because of its passive nature as well as its ability to give users a more “active” experience, allowing data on NFC touch points to be changed upon interaction.
This article is brought to you by 
“Because of this NFC hysteria and how it will change the world as we know it, some have deemed QR to be on its
way out—but there are many differences… ”
Near field communication (NFC) was a hot topic this past year. It’s said that NFC will revolutionize how we interact with payment and ID transactions because of its passive nature as well as its ability to give users a more “active” experience, allowing data on NFC touch points to be changed upon interaction.
Because of this NFC hysteria and how it will change the world as we know it, some have deemed QR to be on its way out—but there are many differences in the offerings of QR and NFC, and QR is still good in many contexts. Let’s take a look at how NFC and QR relate to one another and if QR is on a sad and lonely death march.
1. The Cost
NFC tags, the small active radio devices that are used to pass data to and from an NFC reading- and writing-capable device, are
still an expensive way for consumers and even businesses to interact with context-driven data (~$1.20). Some of these NFC tags, especially outdoor and specially designed tags can go for $10 or more.
On the other hand, creating QR codes can be done online or with simple applications for Windows or Mac—close to free. These barcodes can then be deployed to any poster or cheap stickers with any decent printer. Most smart phones have access to a QR reader for free in their respective app stores. This lowers the barrier to entry for interacting with contextual data by using QR codes.
2. Programmability
One of the biggest differences between NFC and QR is that NFC tags have the ability to be programmed with special apps. Apps such as TecTiles for Android or NFC Task Launcher allow a user to program a set of actions into a set of tags and when they are tapped, the application can change the phone's settings, call someone, send an SMS message and more. These tags can be “infinitely” reprogrammed for later use.
QR is static by nature, that is, the QR code’s pattern is an encoded version of the information that it represents, and therefore can’t be updated. Once the QR code is created with certain information, that information is stuck in that form.
Depending on the usage of the tag, the static nature a QR codes gives users can be acceptable, but if users want a dynamic and “changing” experience with tag interactions, NFC is the way to go.
3. Design and Usage
It’s hard to deny that QR codes are ugly. In fact, there are some who refer to them as “robot puke.” It’s a no brainer that having NFC tags, which can be easily hidden under poster or advertisement material, or can have any type of color or design associated with them, are more aesthetically appealing and can be used for design-centric projects and installations. For example, the company Tagstand used NFC’s capabilities and better visual design to create some tags for the over 30,000 different cocktails at NYC’s opening night at the New York public library back in May. The idea was to use NFC in different contexts to allow partygoers to “like” the cocktails they enjoyed and receive the recipe later in their email, check in to Facebook places or use NFC bracelets to upload pictures from special booths to their Facebook and Twitter accounts. QR could have been used for some of these activations, but with design and dynamic usage being so important, QR would have fallen short.
Because of QR’s static design, it is best suited for projects like mass mailings, large advertisements or serialization that doesn't require visual appeal and design.
4. So, Is QR Dead?
We are still at the beginning of the QR vs. NFC debate, but it’s clear that each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Obviously, NFC is a more desirable technology because of its passive nature, interactivity, design opportunities and its ability to allow users to pay and represent themselves through ID embedded in their devices. But, with NFC’s somewhat prohibitive cost for large-scale projects and rollouts, interactions that QR can handle will still be used.
QR is much more widely accepted than NFC at this time. Consumers understand barcodes and how to use them. Besides familiarity, QR can be used by a much wider base of people because it only needs a network connection, camera and QR reading software.
NFC hasn’t killed QR yet, and we will see QR used widely for years to come. Until NFC technology can lower its barrier to entry and all new smartphones can support reading and writing to NFC tags, QR will still dominate data contexts where cost is an issue, data can be made static and design isn’t as important.
The above article has been independently produced by Mashable. The views and opinions expressed herein by Mashable do not necessarily represent the views of Samsung USA, Samsung Electronics America Inc., or any of its parents/affiliates as well as any other individual employee thereof.
