Matt Drance on the lack of NFC support in the iPhone 5:
It’s not the technology that matters — it’s the utility that the technology provides. There are plenty of solutions to the mobile payments problem. NFC has not delivered, and Apple has no incentive to change that. By shipping NFC in the current climate, Apple would implicitly take responsibility for making that technology a success. That means not just building a first-class iOS experience, but working with businesses to accelerate adoption around the world.
Unless it’s a solution they create, Apple has never really built on the promises of other companies technology. Drance is spot-on.