6 ms·

Loopt Eagerly Joins the iPhone Gold Rush

11 points by robg 18y ago

ardit33 18y ago
good for them, but I have yet to know anybody that uses them. And most of my friends are the early adopter types. I think Loopt has some really great PR, as we have been hearing so much about then, yet I don't know anybody that uses them. I think they are going against a human trend, that people most of the time, don't want their friends to know where they at. Now, that Yelp app might actually be useful.
- mlinsey 18y ago
  I think it's more likely that they haven't been on handsets that their target audience owns. They just added iPhone and Blackberry, and I can't name one of my friends who has a location-enabled smartphone that's neither a Blackberry nor an iPhone. For a while they were just on Boost, and don't know anyone who uses them as a carrier either. In any case I look forward to trying out the service with all of my friends who now can actually use it. Big congrats to the Loopt team, especially Sam and Alok who I know from school.
jonknee 18y ago
I can't imagine using loopt. Anyone here a fan? I don't want anyone to be able to snoop in on my location let alone broadcast it. And then have a firm sell ads against it. But maybe I just need to start wearing another polo and I'll be in the target demo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/grahamb/2565911988/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/grahamb/2565911988/
- fallentimes 18y ago
  I'm going to give it a try once I get the new iphone - I think it'd be nice to have in a big city. At least he didn't double pop the collars.
- tlrobinson 18y ago
  Lay off Sam! I think he's gotten enough flack for the double polo incident... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dju9y5BdVQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dju9y5BdVQ (though that video is quite amusing)
wumi 18y ago
I don't think this article was particularly useful -- a snapshot of their business model, and a few SA quotes confirming that the iPhone was fairly important to the company (this should go without saying for a mobile social networking startup). Personally, I don't/won't use Loopt, but I think the discoverability of others around you is probably the most interesting feature.
tlrobinson 18y ago
I'd say Loopt is pretty useful, though as with all social networks the usefulness increases with the number of people you know on the network (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalfe's_law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalfe's_law) and I don't know many people on Loopt. I look forward to the day when rather than messaging/calling a dozen friends to see who's around I can just look on Loopt and see if a friend is nearby who I want to hang out with. Actually, I just installed Loopt yesterday, and this morning I was wondering where one of my co-founders was. I checked on Loopt, and there he was, "39 mi NW" in SF. I didn't even have to bother him to find out what he was up to. It's kind of like Twitter, but implicit instead of explicit. I don't have to manually update it to let people know where I am.
- boucher 18y ago
  If only you didn't have to manually update it on iPhone. You still have to launch the app.

11 points by robg 18y ago

good for them, but I have yet to know anybody that uses them. And most of my friends are the early adopter types. I think Loopt has some really great PR, as we have been hearing so much about then, yet I don't know anybody that uses them. I think they are going against a human trend, that people most of the time, don't want their friends to know where they at. Now, that Yelp app might actually be useful.

mlinsey 18y ago
I think it's more likely that they haven't been on handsets that their target audience owns. They just added iPhone and Blackberry, and I can't name one of my friends who has a location-enabled smartphone that's neither a Blackberry nor an iPhone. For a while they were just on Boost, and don't know anyone who uses them as a carrier either. In any case I look forward to trying out the service with all of my friends who now can actually use it. Big congrats to the Loopt team, especially Sam and Alok who I know from school.

jonknee 18y ago

I can't imagine using loopt. Anyone here a fan? I don't want anyone to be able to snoop in on my location let alone broadcast it. And then have a firm sell ads against it. But maybe I just need to start wearing another polo and I'll be in the target demo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/grahamb/2565911988/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/grahamb/2565911988/

fallentimes 18y ago
I'm going to give it a try once I get the new iphone - I think it'd be nice to have in a big city. At least he didn't double pop the collars.
tlrobinson 18y ago
Lay off Sam! I think he's gotten enough flack for the double polo incident... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dju9y5BdVQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dju9y5BdVQ (though that video is quite amusing)

wumi 18y ago

I don't think this article was particularly useful -- a snapshot of their business model, and a few SA quotes confirming that the iPhone was fairly important to the company (this should go without saying for a mobile social networking startup). Personally, I don't/won't use Loopt, but I think the discoverability of others around you is probably the most interesting feature.

tlrobinson 18y ago

I'd say Loopt is pretty useful, though as with all social networks the usefulness increases with the number of people you know on the network (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalfe's_law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalfe's_law) and I don't know many people on Loopt. I look forward to the day when rather than messaging/calling a dozen friends to see who's around I can just look on Loopt and see if a friend is nearby who I want to hang out with. Actually, I just installed Loopt yesterday, and this morning I was wondering where one of my co-founders was. I checked on Loopt, and there he was, "39 mi NW" in SF. I didn't even have to bother him to find out what he was up to. It's kind of like Twitter, but implicit instead of explicit. I don't have to manually update it to let people know where I am.

boucher 18y ago
If only you didn't have to manually update it on iPhone. You still have to launch the app.