The difference between NFC and barcodes or RFID is that the former uses induction between the tag and reader and the tag can modulate the signal it is returning

The difference between NFC and barcodes or RFID is that the former uses induction between the tag and reader and the tag can modulate the signal it is returning. In short, two-way communication between tag and reader and not just one-way data delivery. The current Android spec is only half of a NFC solution but most of the rumors so far indicate that Apple is going the full distance and the new hardware will be able to act as both a tag and a reader. If this turns out to be true then there are a lot more possibilities that this will open up.