4 ms·

I can't live without it. Day to day, I get all my weather (current location and upcoming locations based on travel itinerary), my financial interests' status (

by shazow 11y ago

I can't live without it. Day to day, I get all my weather (current location and upcoming locations based on travel itinerary), my financial interests' status (based on google finance portfolio), traffic (based on calendar event locations). Occasionally, it really saves my bacon. I was about to head over to JFK in a few hours to board a flight to the west coast when Washington DC suddenly became a massive no-fly zone and dozens of flights got cancelled on the spot[0]. I had no idea, and probably wouldn't have known until I got to the airport a few hours later and reached the gate. Except—Google Now alerted me that my flight was cancelled the moment it happened (even before news broke about what caused it). Immediately we hopped on the phone and got another flight booked, before the airline itself even started rebooking flights. In fact, the airline never even bothered to alert us that the flight was cancelled. Similar situations have happened with traffic through construction, presumably pulled from Waze alerts ("hey your next appointment is at X, and normally it would take 25min to get there but today it'll take 40min because this freeway is completely closed"). Google Now is basically a collection of a dozen services that I rather not bother manage independently, all without any interaction or signup. Yes, it "reads my email" and my calendar and the queries I make through it. Another fun example: I was researching which phone I wanted to buy next, so I was googling a bunch of phones that haven't been released yet. Few weeks later, it pops up on Google Now "hey, you searched for this and there's news about it today." Lots of cute little surprises when you travel, too. Entering a new country? It'll show you the local currency exchange and the timezone difference (and nearby attractions that I often ignore). Anyways, it's a great integrated experience and just keeps getting better over time. [0]. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/aug/15/dc-new-york-flights-hold-air-traffic-control-issue/ http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/aug/15/dc-new-york-...

deeringc 11y ago
I also use it a lot and find it very useful. Most of the time it's spot on, however one time I was searching for a compiler error code at work and the next day Now had started tracking flight information for some flight that happened to have the same flight code as the compiler error. :)
- shazow 11y ago
  Ha, that is funny. Yea, I was researching flights that day (to find alternate routes from NYC to SFO) and by the end of the day I had like 5 flight alert cards on my Google Now. They're easy enough to swipe away, but it is amusing in a mildly-embarrassing kind of way.
backtoyoujim 11y ago
Although in your world that might feel like an app that everyone would use ... most of us go to a job in the same city in the same location day after day. The problem may be that those apps are actually aimed at such a small portion of the earth's population (read: frequent business travelers) that maybe it is not sustainable.
- stonemetal 11y ago
  The traffic alerts, weather, game scores, and appointment reminder are pretty nice, even if you don't travel. The events near by could be useful too. It is very convenient if you have an android phone, but I doubt I would miss it much if it wasn't there.
- scott_s 11y ago
  A lot of people drive in places with significant traffic, and would choose alternate routes if they knew ahead of time of traffic problems.
- lfowles 11y ago
  Despite driving the same exact route every day, it has saved my bacon when it snows, routing me around accidents. Same for construction, it answers the question "is the construction zone going to make me 2 minutes or 15 minutes behind my usual schedule?" I don't use it every day though, so I do wish it was one easy tap away from the lock screen if I see an unexpected slowdown (that's about as far as I can manage without actively looking at my phone).
fizx 11y ago
It really disappoints me that Twitter never became this.

by shazow 11y ago

deeringc 11y ago

I also use it a lot and find it very useful. Most of the time it's spot on, however one time I was searching for a compiler error code at work and the next day Now had started tracking flight information for some flight that happened to have the same flight code as the compiler error. :)

shazow 11y ago
Ha, that is funny. Yea, I was researching flights that day (to find alternate routes from NYC to SFO) and by the end of the day I had like 5 flight alert cards on my Google Now. They're easy enough to swipe away, but it is amusing in a mildly-embarrassing kind of way.

backtoyoujim 11y ago

Although in your world that might feel like an app that everyone would use ... most of us go to a job in the same city in the same location day after day. The problem may be that those apps are actually aimed at such a small portion of the earth's population (read: frequent business travelers) that maybe it is not sustainable.

stonemetal 11y ago
The traffic alerts, weather, game scores, and appointment reminder are pretty nice, even if you don't travel. The events near by could be useful too. It is very convenient if you have an android phone, but I doubt I would miss it much if it wasn't there.
scott_s 11y ago
A lot of people drive in places with significant traffic, and would choose alternate routes if they knew ahead of time of traffic problems.
lfowles 11y ago
Despite driving the same exact route every day, it has saved my bacon when it snows, routing me around accidents. Same for construction, it answers the question "is the construction zone going to make me 2 minutes or 15 minutes behind my usual schedule?" I don't use it every day though, so I do wish it was one easy tap away from the lock screen if I see an unexpected slowdown (that's about as far as I can manage without actively looking at my phone).

fizx 11y ago

It really disappoints me that Twitter never became this.