Everybody at some point in their life wishes they had a magic wand.

That's the emotionally appeal of a new TikiTag product from Alcatel-Lucent based on Near Field Communication (NFC) technology.

The basic idea is that a manufacturer of a refrigerator, for example, would embed a tag on every unit it ships. Then a customer would take a device, such as a mobile phone, and then literally wave the phone near the refrigerator and download a mass of data about the refrigerator, including, for example, frequently asked questions about special features.

The number of applications for NFC technology is pretty much limitless. The hard part is finding devices that have actual NFC readers built into them. Plus, getting manufacturers to embed NFC tags into their product might take a few years of product cycles to accomplish.

But the basic idea has merit because it provides a way of accessing information in the moment. Instead of searching for various terms of the Web that might be related to product, NFC provides a way to readily access large sets of related data by basically touching a tag with a smart phone.

Alcatel-Lucent envisions a world where manufacturers leverage NFC to help drive loyalty programs and affinity marketing strategies that should ultimately increase after-market sales of accessories.

And who knows, maybe some day the tag will be smart enough to see what we're watching on television. Then all we'd have to do is touch the television to get more information about any item on the screen.

Whatever happens, NFC has the potential to be a conduit for delivering useful information at the exact moment somebody wants it versus inundating people with potential offers that my do something about one day assuming, of course, they even remember they got the information in the first place.