Geographic Data
Geo-tagging, location-based social networking, UPS gps-tracking – the internet is more alive all the time with geographically based data, and I think it’s a great thing.
Back in “the day” (1995-2000), serving someone a version of a home page based on their location (matched against a database of IP numbers) was state-of-the-art, and really wasn’t always that useful (I still prefer the .com view of google…)
Now, services like brightkite and loopt will hook you up with your friends who are nearby, or new people who happen to be in the neighborhood of you. So much for the global village! Also, sites set up to get people away from their PCs, like Meetup.com are going well. All good.
Bit by bit, the broadcasting, storage and tracking of your physical location is starting to be used for benefit. Again, years ago there was a lot of talk about SMS geo-targeted marketing, so that when you walked past a restaurant, the reviews would flood your phone – or when you walked in to a shop, discount vouchers would jump into your inbox. But that was either too intrusive, too scatter-gun (your location was known only to 500 meter accuracy) or if you had to seek them out, too difficult to get. Now, maybe, the technology is getting there, with GPS phones and satnavs in every hand (useless in buildings, though!).
In fact, growth in use of maps on phones is over 70% in the UK/US, though that’s still from a pretty low base:
It’s a space I’ll be watching closely, and it’s another data feed that could benefit the USER (which, of course, is something I’m mad keen on).
