“Geolocation” is 2010’s buzzword. It’s taking off. It’ll change everything. It’s the thing to do.
Well, I know very little about this geolocation thing. From what I can tell, you go places and “check in” with your cell phone, a smart phone. While you’re there, you can make a comment about the place, a public comment, that others can read should they happen to be into “checking in” and reading others’ comments about where they are.
I imagine the whole thing is loaded with danger. It seems the biggest concern is advertising the fact that your home is open for burglary. For me, that’s not much of an issue – I have dogs. The big danger for me would be walking around while messing with my iPhone trying to get “checked in” and typing out a comment. I can see myself walking into people left and right, bumping into racks of clothes, knocking displays over or walking into walls while I struggle to get my ol’ iPhone to pinpoint just where on earth I am.
What would my comment be? “This place has very sturdy shelving. I haven’t knocked one over yet.” Is that something that others visiting the same place would find particularly enlightening? I’d be too busy rubbing bruised shins and looking for the First Aid station to contribute anything more substantive than that.
I’m trying, I really am. I have Foursquare and Facebook Places on my iPhone. I’m all set to jump on to this new bandwagon of a trend. Except, I don’t.
I am a home body. I go to work and come home for the most part. I stop to put gas in the car or run to the grocery store, and that makes for a typical week. Sure, I should get out more. I live in a small town with no Starbucks, and it seems the local businesses here have yet to catch the geolocation craze. What’s the point of adding more color to my already bruised shins while I attempt to “check in” at places that have yet to be listed as a “location”?
I’m not even concerned about all those other privacy issues. It’s not a concern if my friends check me in with them at some place that we might go. Being the home body that I am, it’s unlikely that my friends would 1.) get me out of the house, and if they do, 2.) bother to whip out their cell phone to announce to the world that they did manage to pry me away from home.
I am trying. The idea is cool.
I think it would be cool to be able to smack the communicator pinned to my chest and say, “Computer, where is ____?” and get Majel Barrett’s reply loud and clear: “Your car keys are located in your left coat pocket” or “The restroom is located 60 feet away back behind the electronics department.” It would be even better if my trip through the grocery store was mapped out for me based on the items on my shopping list.
There’s not much value for me, yet, in this geolocation thing. But, I suspect it will grow on me sooner or later. It just hasn’t happened quite yet.
