Assignment 1: Information Literacy | Ambur Babcock

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1. Article Summary
In the article, Apple Pay: Too complicated for the real world, by author Simon Bisson, a
freelance technology journalist (Bisson, 2014), compares Near Field Communication technology, or
NFCs, to Apples new Apple Pay software that is being introduced with the new iOS 8 and iPhone 6.
NFC technologies are currently used worldwide to make small payment transactions simple, like cash, and is
used more commonly in European countries and large cities like Hong Kong (Bisson, 2014). NFC payment began
with the Chip & Pin, which can be found on an AMEX Card in the U.S., but have been integrated into all credit card
types in the UK for the past decade (Bisson, 2014). It is now being developed into a Tap & Pay process, which is
exactly what it sounds like. The integration of technology and the development of the NFC payment process now
allows users to simply tap their card or device, with the chip, on the terminal screen to make a payment (Bisson,
2014). He also talks about how these chips are being modernized to society in the forms of wearable accessories,
like watches and necklaces (Bisson, 2014). Users in Hong Kong have, been able to pay with an NFC-enabled watch
across the city for the past decade, (Bisson, 2014). This method of payment is so popular because through the
use of a, secure cryptographic connection between the chip and a payment providercredit card fraud has been
significantly reduced, (Bisson, 2014). Transactions are, encrypted from the store to the payment provider,
(Bisson, 2014). NFC-payments also happen a lot faster, which is always preferred among todays fast paced
society. The only major inconvenience he talks about is card-clashing, which is, the effect of trying to tap into a
payment gate with two cards in close proximity to each other, (Bisson, 2014). The biggest challenge Apple Pay
faces is, the simplicity of tapping the card on the reader, (Bisson, 2014). The biometric signature of the iPhone,
like the security features to unlock the phone, or the battery dying, hinder the simple functionality and primary
purpose of the NFC-payment process. Apple Pay, designed to work like Tap & Pay, allows buyers to pay through
encryption between the seller and the payment processor at a fraction of the time of other payment methods.
The infrastructure of Apple, however, is much more complex, contradicting the statement that, simplicity is the
key to success, (Bisson, 2014).

Assignment 1: Information Literacy | Ambur Babcock

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2. Internet Article Search
The two search engines I will be using to find additional articles on the use of NFC-payments are Google,
and Bing. I will be using the following keywords to conduct my search for related articles:
NFC-payments
Payment methods
Mobile payments
Apple Pay
Both search engines yielded the most of all of the same results. I found that the article that most commonly
related to the topic I was looking for was listed sooner on Googles search results page, than Bings. So the more
relevant information was easier to find on Google.
3. TRAAP Sources
The article titled, Everything You Need to Know about NFC and Mobile Payments, was written on
September 5, 2014 at 3:31 PM PDT, and was updated on September 9, 2014 at 12:00 PM PDT. The article is
relevant to my topic of the simplicity and convenience of the NFC-payment process and technology, and how it is
being integrated worldwide, in the fact that the author not only describes what NFCs are, but she also discusses
how it is becoming the new preferred method of payment for transactions of small amounts. The author of this
article is Sharon Profis, and she is a Senior Editor for CNETs How To topics. She is a qualified author of this topic as
she has been writing about new gadgets and technology for over five years and has also been featured on CBS and
other news outlets. This information is provided to the public through the author biography, located at the
bottom of the article that she has written. All of her information has been provided through the research of what
developers are offering on Android and iPhones. She has provided an in-depth understanding of what NFCs are
and the various ways they can be used, exceeding just payment methods. The accuracy of her article is not only
has been verified by accredited CBS, and their trademark is also on this article, but by the substantial amount of
supporting details she includes in her article. Unlike the initial article that was summarized earlier, where the
Assignment 1: Information Literacy | Ambur Babcock

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author was biased towards the original Chip & Pin or Tap & Pay method versus the Apple Pay method, Profis is
objective in the fact that she gives details about both programs and gives facts about all of the NFC forms available.
4. Database Search for Scholarly Journal Articles
The database used to find the scholarly journal articles was Science Direct. I chose this database because
it contained articles related to science, technology, and medicine. Since the topic of NFCs is a technology topic, it
seemed fitting to use this database. The only keyword I used in my search for the articles was NFC, and the search
yielded over 5,000 articles related to the topic.
5. Comparison of Internet and Journal Articles
During the course of this assignment we were asked to use both search engines, and scholarly databases
to find articles suitable to our topic of choice. I found that the databases provide a much more substantial amount
of articles related to the topic searched. It only took one keyword search to acquire thousands of related articles
using one database versus the materials produces from Google and Bing combined. The articles in Science Direct
are written by doctors and professionals in the industry, versus the articles found online were written by
journalists, who do their research, but their words and opinions are nothing close to the words and opinions of
developers and scientists who work on this technology daily. It took me all of about two minutes to locate two
scholarly articles that had substantial credentials, versus using the search engines, where I had to scan through the
articles and find one that wasnt just a bunch of hearsay of opinions and actually was fact based.






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Works Cited: APA Format
Works Cited
Bisson, S. (2014, September 19). ZDNet. Retrieved from CBS Interactive: http://www.zdnet.com/apple-
pay-too-complicated-for-the-real-world-7000033819/
Etherington, D. (2014, September 4). TechCrunch. Retrieved from AOL Inc.:
http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/04/apple-wearable-iphone-nfc/
Leong, L.-Y., Hew, T.-S., Tan, G. W.-H., & Ooi, K.-B. (2013, October 15). Expert Systems with Applications:
Volume 40. Predicting the determinants of the NFC-enabled mobile credit card acceptance: A
neutral networks approach, pp. 5604-5620.
Profis, S. (2014, September 5). C/NET. Retrieved from CBS Interactive Inc.: http://www.cnet.com/how-
to/how-nfc-works-and-mobile-payments/
Tan, G. W.-H., Ooi, K.-B., Chong, S.-C., & Hew, T.-S. (20114, May). Telematics and Informatics: Volume
31: Issue 2. NFC mobile credit card: The next frontier of mobile payment?, pp. 292-307.