4 ms·

An iphone app that could change the way you get to work

12 points by screwperman 18y ago

dchest 18y ago
Dash navigator?
- neilk 18y ago
  Yes. To clarify for everyone else, he means this: http://www.dash.net/ http://www.dash.net/ and it works exactly the way that Seth describes, even down to Dash users participating to provide real-time traffic updates. It's an in-car device like a Garmin but internet-oriented. Personally, I'm not sure if it's a viable niche -- it's somewhere in between the Garmin and the iPhone. And the idea of Dash users providing real-time data is obviously a chicken and egg problem. In any case, maybe Seth's idea was an improvement over radio reports in 2000 but is already behind what Dash, Google Maps or Yahoo maps does today.
iuguy 18y ago
Hmmm.... I've tried looking but I can't find anything to back up the existence of 'RadaR'. I don't remember hearing about anything in this regard I'm tempted to call BS, especially given the content of http://web.archive.org/web/20011130151150/http://radar.com/ http://web.archive.org/web/20011130151150/http://radar.com/ Anyone else ever see or hear of this invention?
- stillmotion 18y ago
  It was probably a concept. A lot of marketers say, "I developed this product", when really they should've said, "I thought it up on a Sunday afternoon, wrote it down, showed it to about 10 people on IM, and thought about working on it later this week."
  - potatolicious 18y ago
    ... Yet another reason why I wonder by Seth Godin gets on HN so often. I think I've only ever read a single post by him that's been insightful in a significant way. And it also goes to show that anybody can think of a good idea - it takes someone with real talent to execute it in a successful way. I too have many good ideas. Wouldn't the world be better off if we could just, like, replicate our food? Starvation would become nonexistent! Quick! Somebody give me all the credit and post my blog everywhere!
    - deleted 18y ago
      [deleted]
    - neilk 18y ago
      (spoken like Jon Lovitz' Master Thespian): but he was only mmmmarketing!
bdfh42 18y ago
This is called TrafficMaster in the UK ( http://www.trafficmaster.co.uk/home.php http://www.trafficmaster.co.uk/home.php ). It uses detectors placed at regular intervals along all major and a lot of minor roads and you can receive basic traffic data over the cellphone network without a subscription.Been operational for ten years or so. It's not quite as described here as it does not require the active participation of it's users.
RobGR 18y ago
I think the "bonus" idea that Seth gives, the automatic sending of recorded reminders, is a feature that is available from www.traqmonkey.com. It is called "callback reminder", and you have to know to make the reminder go to a "distribution group" instead of just yourself. On his main idea, I have one comment: why don't people who live where the primary impediment to their getting around just move ? In theory, the internet and modern communications should allow a much more dispersed population and economy, without the costs that come from overcrowding. In practice, everyone in that traffic jam has an economic reason to be there. I think that any services or business ideas that allow a more "free range" type of economy instead of the "factory farm" overcrowded cities will have a strong demand.
potatolicious 18y ago
This won't work like Seth wants. The problem is the following: - Few users have the iPhone hooked up to a car charger when in their cars. - The GPS receiver sucks up power like mad when it's on. A constant connection will drain the battery very quickly. - The iPhone is also incapable of passively uploading GPS data to a remote source, nor is it capable of running an app in the background. This is to say, your users must keep their iPhone unlocked (disabling auto-sleep) and your app open at all times. This is similarly a large drain on your battery. The amount of work (buying a car charger, making sure to hook it up, unlock the phone, and open your app, and disable auto-lock) every time the user needs to use the service is just absurd. This has no chance of working as it is. It's a cool idea, and if we all had devices in our pockets that can, without excessive hackery, sustain a continuous GPS feed to a 3rd-party source, this would actually work. Sadly, the iPhone is not it.
- drewp 18y ago
  I want something passively uploading my GPS data. What should I get?
  - DenisM 18y ago
    A Windows Mobile phone, such as Samsung BlackJack 2.
    - there 18y ago
      or an s60 phone such as the nokia e71
      - potatolicious 18y ago
        Just a reminder that it still won't solve your power problem. I don't actually know that many people who have a car charger for their phone.
      - drewp 18y ago
        Thanks! Something running s60 is interesting to me since it seems like it would be easier to program. My current phone is a treo 650 (palm), and I am disappointed at how high the barrier to programming it is. I want to be writing blog entries like this one: http://blog.danielwinter.de/archives/13 http://blog.danielwinter.de/archives/13
srn 18y ago
Nokia and Berkeley are piloting software which monitors traffic via mobile devices that have GPS - they say they are working on an iphone version. http://www.traffic.berkeley.edu/ http://www.traffic.berkeley.edu/ Some stand-alone GPS, if given traffic data, will take that into account when trip planning. http://www.gpsreview.net/traffic/ http://www.gpsreview.net/traffic/ All he's saying to do is combine the two into a single application. Not that interesting IMO.
jrockway 18y ago
I think you could get something almost as good by convincing Google to take traffic data into account when finding the least-cost route between two points. I know that in Chicago the freeways have speed sensors spaced pretty closely together, so it is possible to look at that data and immediately know how long you are going to spend on the freeway. If you use that data to determine your route, then you should avoid traffic jams. Obviously conditions can change pretty quickly, but most of the time they don't. So this could be a good 90% solution without requiring people to broadcast their location to you.
flashgordon 18y ago
what about privacy? will the location data that is uploaded by the iPhone be stored on the server side? Can guarantees on privacy be provided? Clearly the govt can get access to this info with warrants (or may be even without depending on where you are)...

12 points by screwperman 18y ago

dchest 18y ago

Dash navigator?

neilk 18y ago
Yes. To clarify for everyone else, he means this: http://www.dash.net/ http://www.dash.net/ and it works exactly the way that Seth describes, even down to Dash users participating to provide real-time traffic updates. It's an in-car device like a Garmin but internet-oriented. Personally, I'm not sure if it's a viable niche -- it's somewhere in between the Garmin and the iPhone. And the idea of Dash users providing real-time data is obviously a chicken and egg problem. In any case, maybe Seth's idea was an improvement over radio reports in 2000 but is already behind what Dash, Google Maps or Yahoo maps does today.

iuguy 18y ago

Hmmm.... I've tried looking but I can't find anything to back up the existence of 'RadaR'. I don't remember hearing about anything in this regard I'm tempted to call BS, especially given the content of http://web.archive.org/web/20011130151150/http://radar.com/ http://web.archive.org/web/20011130151150/http://radar.com/ Anyone else ever see or hear of this invention?

stillmotion 18y ago
It was probably a concept. A lot of marketers say, "I developed this product", when really they should've said, "I thought it up on a Sunday afternoon, wrote it down, showed it to about 10 people on IM, and thought about working on it later this week."
- potatolicious 18y ago
  ... Yet another reason why I wonder by Seth Godin gets on HN so often. I think I've only ever read a single post by him that's been insightful in a significant way. And it also goes to show that anybody can think of a good idea - it takes someone with real talent to execute it in a successful way. I too have many good ideas. Wouldn't the world be better off if we could just, like, replicate our food? Starvation would become nonexistent! Quick! Somebody give me all the credit and post my blog everywhere!
  - deleted 18y ago
    [deleted]
  - neilk 18y ago
    (spoken like Jon Lovitz' Master Thespian): but he was only mmmmarketing!

bdfh42 18y ago

This is called TrafficMaster in the UK ( http://www.trafficmaster.co.uk/home.php http://www.trafficmaster.co.uk/home.php ). It uses detectors placed at regular intervals along all major and a lot of minor roads and you can receive basic traffic data over the cellphone network without a subscription.Been operational for ten years or so. It's not quite as described here as it does not require the active participation of it's users.

RobGR 18y ago

I think the "bonus" idea that Seth gives, the automatic sending of recorded reminders, is a feature that is available from www.traqmonkey.com. It is called "callback reminder", and you have to know to make the reminder go to a "distribution group" instead of just yourself. On his main idea, I have one comment: why don't people who live where the primary impediment to their getting around just move ? In theory, the internet and modern communications should allow a much more dispersed population and economy, without the costs that come from overcrowding. In practice, everyone in that traffic jam has an economic reason to be there. I think that any services or business ideas that allow a more "free range" type of economy instead of the "factory farm" overcrowded cities will have a strong demand.

potatolicious 18y ago

This won't work like Seth wants. The problem is the following: - Few users have the iPhone hooked up to a car charger when in their cars. - The GPS receiver sucks up power like mad when it's on. A constant connection will drain the battery very quickly. - The iPhone is also incapable of passively uploading GPS data to a remote source, nor is it capable of running an app in the background. This is to say, your users must keep their iPhone unlocked (disabling auto-sleep) and your app open at all times. This is similarly a large drain on your battery. The amount of work (buying a car charger, making sure to hook it up, unlock the phone, and open your app, and disable auto-lock) every time the user needs to use the service is just absurd. This has no chance of working as it is. It's a cool idea, and if we all had devices in our pockets that can, without excessive hackery, sustain a continuous GPS feed to a 3rd-party source, this would actually work. Sadly, the iPhone is not it.

drewp 18y ago
I want something passively uploading my GPS data. What should I get?
- DenisM 18y ago
  A Windows Mobile phone, such as Samsung BlackJack 2.
  - there 18y ago
    or an s60 phone such as the nokia e71
    - potatolicious 18y ago
      Just a reminder that it still won't solve your power problem. I don't actually know that many people who have a car charger for their phone.
    - drewp 18y ago
      Thanks! Something running s60 is interesting to me since it seems like it would be easier to program. My current phone is a treo 650 (palm), and I am disappointed at how high the barrier to programming it is. I want to be writing blog entries like this one: http://blog.danielwinter.de/archives/13 http://blog.danielwinter.de/archives/13

srn 18y ago

Nokia and Berkeley are piloting software which monitors traffic via mobile devices that have GPS - they say they are working on an iphone version. http://www.traffic.berkeley.edu/ http://www.traffic.berkeley.edu/ Some stand-alone GPS, if given traffic data, will take that into account when trip planning. http://www.gpsreview.net/traffic/ http://www.gpsreview.net/traffic/ All he's saying to do is combine the two into a single application. Not that interesting IMO.

jrockway 18y ago

I think you could get something almost as good by convincing Google to take traffic data into account when finding the least-cost route between two points. I know that in Chicago the freeways have speed sensors spaced pretty closely together, so it is possible to look at that data and immediately know how long you are going to spend on the freeway. If you use that data to determine your route, then you should avoid traffic jams. Obviously conditions can change pretty quickly, but most of the time they don't. So this could be a good 90% solution without requiring people to broadcast their location to you.

flashgordon 18y ago

what about privacy? will the location data that is uploaded by the iPhone be stored on the server side? Can guarantees on privacy be provided? Clearly the govt can get access to this info with warrants (or may be even without depending on where you are)...