7 ms·

Well, it is a pivot, I'll give them that. And as always their design is superior but if they insist on listing locales like "Cheers" in Boston as a destination

Well, it is a pivot, I'll give them that. And as always their design is superior but if they insist on listing locales like "Cheers" in Boston as a destination in their guide, they're going to find themselves pivoting to something else in the near future.

ry0ohki 15y ago
My understanding is the Guides are essentially auto-generated by bubbling up top check-in places. Cheers, while corny, is definitely one of those places most tourists go to see when in Boston.
- jsavimbi 15y ago
  I have to say that I'd really like to see the data on that. This looks like an unpersonalized kitchen sink attempt to cover everything. You can buy/rent/scrape all the locations, with geo data, from a variety of resources.
  - ry0ohki 15y ago
    You can pull the most check-in places from their API if you want to see it yourself. Just looking at the Pittsburgh guide, it seems like the basic tourist tour we give visitors, and it doesn't surprise me these are also the most checked in places. They also have a few local bars that are not quite so touristy but definitely popular with the smart phone crowd. In another comment of yours you mentioned appealing to the lowest common denominator... I see what you are saying but that also means "the average" person. You are less likely to be wrong suggesting the Cheers bar then a local favorite.
    - jsavimbi 15y ago
      But I'm not the average person and my time is better spent visiting things of value, to me, in a foreign city. It doesn't make me any better of a person to visit Navy Pier, Pier 39, Pier One, Anthony's Pier Four or Piers Morgan just because a large dataset of anonymous people checked in there. And I don't need an app to tell me how great those places are. They hand these guides out at airports, hotels, free newspapers, paid newspapers and the internet. tl;dr: Gowalla wishes they got some of that Where money. I just searched for "marijuana" in Amsterdam and it returned two results. One was the Hemp Museum. You're better off asking a surly local or a fellow tourist.
aspir 15y ago
It may not appeal to everyone, but I've personally never met someone not interested in visiting the cheers bar. Travel guides are inherently for tourists looking to see these little kitschy places.
- jsavimbi 15y ago
  I'm sorry, but people from Boston don't go to Cheers and you're assuming that tourists are really looking to visit these traps because of the plethora of mentions these places receive in poorly conceived travel guides. In this case, Gowalla, just like every other travel app is going for the low-hanging fruit and pandering to the lowest common denominator. Yes, there is money in it, but like it's been mentioned before, this may be an app in search of a problem to solve but it just may very well be that there isn't much beyond Cheers that appeals to a certain demographic and their use case is very well served.
  - mattmanser 15y ago
    I would definitely want to visit Cheers if I visited Boston, it was a part of my childhood. I think you're totally underestimating the value of the place. There a phonebox near my house that's pretty run down, cleaned once a year, smells of pee and often has those seedy cards in it. It's not well maintained. But it's constantly being photographed by tourists. Every time I walk past it there's someone taking a picture. Why? Because it's one of those classic red booths and you can spot it if you're visiting Nottingham Castle. Tourists can love stuff that looks mundane to the locals.
    - jsavimbi 15y ago
      Please visit Cheers London and report back on the cultural value it micturates upon that fair city.
    - saraid216 15y ago
      To agree, I want to point out this snippet; The conversation then turned to strange things [Neil Gaiman] has witnessed while in the US: a large decommissioned nuclear submarine docked by a road in Portsmouth, NH that locals barely take notice of; cheese-wheel rolling festivals; and people parking their vehicles on frozen lakes in the American heartland. He noted that, “The UK is weird, but not as weird as here!” http://www.comicbooked.com/neil-gaiman-american-gods-anniversary-event/ http://www.comicbooked.com/neil-gaiman-american-gods-anniver...
minikomi 15y ago
Have to agree.. Tokyo is not showing me the most inspiring list of destinations. I'd like an app has these kinds of lists, weighted by how long someone has lived in a city.. I can't help but feel there's a low hanging fruit there for "off the beaten path" travel guides. Simply ranking by number of check-ins is not so novel..
- buss 15y ago
  I'm applying to YC this round with an idea very similar to this. We're aiming to help locals make travel guides for their own cities. What other things frustrate you about finding things to do in a foreign city?
  - jsavimbi 15y ago
    Urbandig?
    - buss 15y ago
      Oh, that's an interesting app. I didn't find that while looking for companies that do this already. Our solution is a bit different - namely avoiding curation by a few people. We're frustrated by how difficult it is to find things to do in a new city, and we want to get locals to help (after all, the best way to visit a city is to visit a friend who lives in that city). Think crowdsourced walking tours.
      - jsavimbi 15y ago
        Yes, I've looked into that. Much better than the standard walking tours with a (mis)guide dressed up in pre-Industrial garb. It's a very interesting concept for those interested in trying something new, but maybe hard to get over the fear-factor for the average tourist, who mind you, won't hesitate to fork over $32 for a tour in an aging water bus.
        buss 15y ago
        Can I ask what you found out when looking into it? Did you consider doing something in this space and decide against it? We can take this discussion off HN, too. My email is in my profile.

ry0ohki 15y ago

My understanding is the Guides are essentially auto-generated by bubbling up top check-in places. Cheers, while corny, is definitely one of those places most tourists go to see when in Boston.

jsavimbi 15y ago
I have to say that I'd really like to see the data on that. This looks like an unpersonalized kitchen sink attempt to cover everything. You can buy/rent/scrape all the locations, with geo data, from a variety of resources.
- ry0ohki 15y ago
  You can pull the most check-in places from their API if you want to see it yourself. Just looking at the Pittsburgh guide, it seems like the basic tourist tour we give visitors, and it doesn't surprise me these are also the most checked in places. They also have a few local bars that are not quite so touristy but definitely popular with the smart phone crowd. In another comment of yours you mentioned appealing to the lowest common denominator... I see what you are saying but that also means "the average" person. You are less likely to be wrong suggesting the Cheers bar then a local favorite.
  - jsavimbi 15y ago
    But I'm not the average person and my time is better spent visiting things of value, to me, in a foreign city. It doesn't make me any better of a person to visit Navy Pier, Pier 39, Pier One, Anthony's Pier Four or Piers Morgan just because a large dataset of anonymous people checked in there. And I don't need an app to tell me how great those places are. They hand these guides out at airports, hotels, free newspapers, paid newspapers and the internet. tl;dr: Gowalla wishes they got some of that Where money. I just searched for "marijuana" in Amsterdam and it returned two results. One was the Hemp Museum. You're better off asking a surly local or a fellow tourist.

aspir 15y ago

It may not appeal to everyone, but I've personally never met someone not interested in visiting the cheers bar. Travel guides are inherently for tourists looking to see these little kitschy places.

jsavimbi 15y ago
I'm sorry, but people from Boston don't go to Cheers and you're assuming that tourists are really looking to visit these traps because of the plethora of mentions these places receive in poorly conceived travel guides. In this case, Gowalla, just like every other travel app is going for the low-hanging fruit and pandering to the lowest common denominator. Yes, there is money in it, but like it's been mentioned before, this may be an app in search of a problem to solve but it just may very well be that there isn't much beyond Cheers that appeals to a certain demographic and their use case is very well served.
- mattmanser 15y ago
  I would definitely want to visit Cheers if I visited Boston, it was a part of my childhood. I think you're totally underestimating the value of the place. There a phonebox near my house that's pretty run down, cleaned once a year, smells of pee and often has those seedy cards in it. It's not well maintained. But it's constantly being photographed by tourists. Every time I walk past it there's someone taking a picture. Why? Because it's one of those classic red booths and you can spot it if you're visiting Nottingham Castle. Tourists can love stuff that looks mundane to the locals.
  - jsavimbi 15y ago
    Please visit Cheers London and report back on the cultural value it micturates upon that fair city.
  - saraid216 15y ago
    To agree, I want to point out this snippet; The conversation then turned to strange things [Neil Gaiman] has witnessed while in the US: a large decommissioned nuclear submarine docked by a road in Portsmouth, NH that locals barely take notice of; cheese-wheel rolling festivals; and people parking their vehicles on frozen lakes in the American heartland. He noted that, “The UK is weird, but not as weird as here!” http://www.comicbooked.com/neil-gaiman-american-gods-anniversary-event/ http://www.comicbooked.com/neil-gaiman-american-gods-anniver...

minikomi 15y ago

Have to agree.. Tokyo is not showing me the most inspiring list of destinations. I'd like an app has these kinds of lists, weighted by how long someone has lived in a city.. I can't help but feel there's a low hanging fruit there for "off the beaten path" travel guides. Simply ranking by number of check-ins is not so novel..

buss 15y ago
I'm applying to YC this round with an idea very similar to this. We're aiming to help locals make travel guides for their own cities. What other things frustrate you about finding things to do in a foreign city?
- jsavimbi 15y ago
  Urbandig?
  - buss 15y ago
    Oh, that's an interesting app. I didn't find that while looking for companies that do this already. Our solution is a bit different - namely avoiding curation by a few people. We're frustrated by how difficult it is to find things to do in a new city, and we want to get locals to help (after all, the best way to visit a city is to visit a friend who lives in that city). Think crowdsourced walking tours.
    - jsavimbi 15y ago
      Yes, I've looked into that. Much better than the standard walking tours with a (mis)guide dressed up in pre-Industrial garb. It's a very interesting concept for those interested in trying something new, but maybe hard to get over the fear-factor for the average tourist, who mind you, won't hesitate to fork over $32 for a tour in an aging water bus.
      - buss 15y ago
        Can I ask what you found out when looking into it? Did you consider doing something in this space and decide against it? We can take this discussion off HN, too. My email is in my profile.