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See where your friends are with Google Latitude
- dc2k08 18y agoSurprising that Ireland where their European headquarters are located is not among countries where latitude can be used, though it is the same way with twitter. I don't suppose anyone knows the reason?
- schoudha 18y agoLoopt needs to look to be acquired or abandon the idea of a mobile only social network and focus on leveraging services like Facebook connect. Although there level of funding might make it difficult, I also think they're a great target for Facebook. In any case, this will be a large space and there is room for multiple players.
- volida 18y ago"large space and there is room for multiple players" apart from that being true, I believe Google's approach to location leaves open other opportunities.
- RiderOfGiraffes 18y agoAlready posted: Here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=465458 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=465458 Here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=465359 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=465359 Oddly, they're both by the same person.
- jacquesm 18y agoand here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=465494 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=465494
- almost 18y agoThis kind of stuff makes me a little uncomfortable. I can imagine someone being in a situation (abusive relationship maybe?) where they are compelled to share this information. Even under normal circumstances it seems a little creepy, but maybe that's just me. Not saying it's wrong to provide the service or anything like that, just wondering about how it could effect things.
- snprbob86 18y agoWhy not include a cloaking/misdirection feature?
- alexandros 18y agoI believe I read something about manual entry of location
- snprbob86 18y agoAh yes. Clearly I need to work on my skimming skills :-)
- gravitycop 18y agoI can imagine someone being in a situation (abusive relationship maybe?) where they are compelled to share this information. Did you see this part?: Instead of having your approximate location detected and shared automatically, you can manually set your location for elsewhere
- almost 18y agoNo, I didn't. And that kind of eliminates those concerns a bit. Apologies for my lack of reading-all-the-way-throughness
- michaelneale 18y agoAm I the only one who started reading and was confused as to what the use was of only knowing someones lattitude? (other them perhaps getting a feel for the expected climate to aid in small talk about the weather).
- alexandros 18y agoWhile this may sound scary at first, I suspect it could mature, with people finding the appropriate social norms around this new technology, and slowly integrating into their daily lives. In this sense it could resemble the social network or the mobile phone, where even luddites eventually cave in, as it eventually becomes a no-brainer, benefits greatly outweighing drawbacks. That said, there is still a long way to go and this technology still has not found a compelling application. The only reason I would consider using it is to be one of the first people to actually figure it out on the ground and potentially find those compelling uses, if they exist.
- axod 18y agoI think there's a pretty solid trail of startups who have tried and failed to make a compelling use case for it so far.
- riklomas 18y agoYahoo has also tried too, not to much success though: http://fireeagle.yahoo.net/ http://fireeagle.yahoo.net/
- ajju 18y agoExcept fireeagle doesn't have a client with an install base as large as Google Maps' and is really more of a pipe/aggregator than a client in the first place.
- ajju 18y agoSharing your location is, at least right now, more of a feature than a product in users minds. If you have a google maps client on your phone already, you'll probably try it. Users probably won't download an app that does just that as readily. Google has the classic big company/large install base edge in this area.
- axod 18y agoCompletely agree. It's a feature, and if it was a free add-on, it'd be useful. eg if someone is going on a long journey, be able to track them to see they get there safely etc But I don't think it's anything more than a feature.
- buro9 18y agoOh well, there goes Bright Kite.
- volida 18y agowhat makes you think Google Latitude wont meet the same barrier to reach critical mass for this application? For example as it is, it would be useless for ages 13-25.
- agotterer 18y agoThere are a lot more people with google accounts then the competition. People seem to also trust google more then a random startup.
- froo 18y agoWith Google's Latitude, I might finally learn where on earth Carmen Sandiego is. This might make http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/ http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/ redundant, if you know where he is all the time. Mixed feelings about this Google, mixed feelings indeed.
- brkumar 18y agoSeems like google has done a good job on privacy. From Mashable "When it comes to privacy, Google seems to have done it right, since absolutely everything about Latitude is opt-in...you can set it up so that your wife always sees you at work. Why you’d want to do that, we leave to your imagination." http://mashable.com/2009/02/04/google-latitude/ http://mashable.com/2009/02/04/google-latitude/
- deleted 18y ago[deleted]
- redorb 18y agoI think this is direct competitor to Twitter; as it includes not only location but a spot for 'Im at starbucks' too; you can also have followers etc... - just seems to be a competitor; and not many people are seeing that I think.
- bkudria 18y agoBrightKite does this too, including photo updates.
- anuraggoel 18y agoIt's interesting that Google chose to build this out on their own instead of acquiring Loopt (or someone else). Was Loopt even open to an acquisition?
- treasure2seek 18y agoTry not to get involved in a long discussion, because this will only end with a whole lot of, 1 point posts, which will probably drag your personal average down. Lastly, I just had a brain freeze about something. If I can remember, I try to check my comments regularly, to see if anyone has commented on my submission. I'm very serious, personally, in that of making more of an effort to not only comments like this with someone Else's submissions, but to really listen in, if you will, and take genuine notice to the comments presented to me, by others, relative to their view point, about said Article, and take the helpful hints from those admonishments, and eventually become good enough at this journalism stuff, and who know's what may become of it. Rob!