chrisbrogan.com - Latest Comments in Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

Supersubra — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 01:21:41 -0000

Here in India I have used google latitude in Nokia E63 and I have lost my phone a week ago. Person who has taken the mobile has switched the sim but he didnt have enough knowledge about latitude. so my position was getting updated even after changing sim. with the help of local police i have approximated the building and with door to door enquiry we recovered the phone. so this is really a cool application

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

IdoNotes — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:04:19 -0000

Ok, one more posting on tips and tricks for Google Latitude from playing around with features and how it can work better for me
http://planetlotus.org/44cb04

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

gregbeazley — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 01:27:49 -0000

I knew it was only a matter of time before Google launched their own location sharing app. Its good and convenient! There are other location sharing apps out there but the main problem would be their take-up of users. Google already has a large customer base and it is a trusted source. Thumbs up for me!

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

Shelby Highsmith — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 20:39:52 -0000

N95 users, be wary: I and a few others have wound up with Symbian bricks that needed wiping after Latitude/Google Maps 3.0 hung in mid-install: http://tr.im/f7ve

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

lawton chiles — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 16:07:58 -0000

I get it...what they are selling is the concept of instant engagement, or at least the chance for some friend of yours to buy you a free dessert :) This is HUGE though, b/c it's like a conversations map.

It's a "jump to conclusions mat!'-Office Space

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

Robert Rowe — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 13:14:35 -0000

BrightKite still offers the ability to check-in via sms. Of course it isn't as easy as checking in from a laptop or iPhone, but it works. Latitude doesn't offer the simple text message check-in.
I definitely agree, Google getting in the game is a big deal, but I don't see them killing off everything else yet.

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

IdoNotes — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 12:35:02 -0000

Chris, I did a quick comparison chart for Latitude and Brightkite yesterday. Guess who wins? Not Latitude yet..

http://planetlotus.org/438fb4

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

Stefano Maggi — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 05:22:49 -0000

I think Google Latitude is just a sign, a symbol, too. But - in fact - it's so good for Social Influence Marketing, what do you think?
A few reflections about this (partly inspired by your post) http://tinyurl.com/thehare

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

chris brogan — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 18:27:50 -0000

It's not just about where you are, but where you've been. That's the fun part. :)

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

Freddy Gipson — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 17:49:50 -0000

Google Latitude: Cyber-stalking just got a little bit easier.
--
Aside from the fact you can track people down with this and use it as a big brother tool I think this is a very neat service because you can map out certain locations and landmarks as well as find out where your business partners are at.

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

eapprentice — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 10:40:06 -0000

It is not unusual for these types of companies to create these services. It makes complete sense. If you have a mobile phone, there is a good chance that they will do all they can do to keep up with the customers demands.

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

BryanPerson — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 09:30:44 -0000

For the iPhone, Google Latitude is "coming soon." Blog about this again in a month or two to remind me? :)

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

Raul — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 09:28:07 -0000

I see great possibility for this type of application. And, actually, I think the idea of knowing where my friends are is not really that valuable to me - perhaps if I lived in a high density location I would be interested just in case I am 25 feet from a friend and neither of us know it. I see a lot of potential applications of the concept in the relief and development non-profit sector and can also picture benefits from a commercial standpoint.

Having said that, the latitude website has some issue and the software would not download to my Blackberry. Perhaps they have missed a few things?

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

Matt B — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 06:53:24 -0000

I've always been a map junkie, and I find Latitude interesting (in theory at this point, because I have an iPhone).

Some of the items Chris points out @ 2:21 AM can already be accomplished with your own Google maps.

I'm curious to see where it goes (other than my wife wanting to track me) and I've begun playing to see what I might be able to fold into my daily activities.

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

Alexander van Elsas — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 02:28:57 -0000

Chris,

I do not consider myself a futurist or an early adopter. My passion lies with First Use. I follow and think about new technologies and I can get excited over the capabilities. But for mass adoption it boils down to a simple question :

Is a user willing to put in the effort to learn about this new technology and incorporate it in his current habits?

The answer to this is that we need a whole lot of perceived value before this will happen. The examples you provide may become true at some point, but right now there isn't any clear indication that it will be the case. The market will decide. I write bout First use a lot, and didn't want to plug a post on it here, but this one fits the topic so to say.

http://vanelsas.wordpress.c...

Sleep well :-)

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

chrisbrogan — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 02:22:28 -0000

One more thing: not everyone's a futurist, and that's okay. I make my money by figuring out the jump move instead of the obvious here and now.

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

chrisbrogan — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 02:21:31 -0000

@Alexander - 5 things you could do with this right now:

* Sales team uses this to show positions at a larger event like CES in Las Vegas.
* Nonprofit builds a map of elderly people who opt in for friendly companion visits.
* Library uses it to annotate historical markers out in the public space.
* Runners use it to mark favorite paths or trailheads.
* Fundraisers or politicians use it to map out a campaign trail.

I could keep listing these, but it's 2:23AM and it's your turn to stretch your head.

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

Marc Vermut — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 01:44:14 -0000

Chris, great post that got to the meat of the possibilities. What's really interesting is that the service was launched outside of any specific social network or platform, but tied specifically to Google IDs. This is a consistent and clear extension of their apparent business model of being the platform/tools that people use while online and, now, more importantly, mobile.

Google wants people to integrate their tools into other services, create mashups, become the underlying mesh of a connected web. Why? Because they (a) collect tremendous amounts of information about who people are and what they do, and (b) gain more and more places to serve ads and transaction facilitation opportunities. Oh, and, what better way to jump beyond Facebook Connect than to put their OpenID status, Google Friend Connect and OpenSocial platform to a demonstrably/powerful good use?

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

Alexander van Elsas — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 01:28:51 -0000

Chris,
Sorry but I do not see the advantages other than having another cool app on my mobile. I'm probably not being imaginative but there is no real value yet to be found. This technology has a "coolness" factor to it, but that will wear off as we start using this. Location Based services have been around for a long time. If we get past the "Hey I can watch my friends", or the idea that Retail can spam the hell out of me to bring me an offer when I walk by the store, we currently do not have a clue yet how to make this useful.
As for your story telling or friends annotation example. That will surely be valuable to a specific group of people. But for mainstream users to start changing their daily habits and incorporate this service more value will have to be found.The First Use experience is simply not valuable enough at this point.
We tend to get excited over new technology and Google releasing great things, but forget that the rest of the world doesn't care at this point. The simple question at this point would be if a user would be willing to pay to get access to such a service. I doubt it in its current form.
This could be the start of something new, but that is up to the market to decide. For now, it is just another cool app.

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

David Carson — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 01:24:56 -0000

iPhone and iPod touch devices (coming soon)

I hope iPhone support for Latitude comes faster than Mac support for Chrome.

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

John Reddish Get Results — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 01:19:30 -0000

Really neat - crisp. Am adding favorites now. Thanks, Chris, for the head's up on this. Very cool.

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

Nathan Hangen — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 01:19:13 -0000

not sure how I feel about this yet, but it looks like I won't have a choice but to accept it. The world is getting smaller by the day.

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

Jeremy Vaught — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 01:18:19 -0000

I like the idea of Brightkite, but can't stand having to remember all the txt commands for every mobile app out there. Thus, this is perfect. I installed it on my N95 the first night it was available.

Indeed, Brightkite/Plazes etc..., be on notice.

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

Alex Berger — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 01:16:03 -0000

I agree completely. It's a fantastic piece of software - though I won't be using it locally right now I've been hankering for something like this for my travel blogging for a long time. Especially if you could pull a lat/long dump and then plot the path of your entire trip onto a map. Add in lat/long tagged photos/video/blog posts and you've really got an amazing experience that you can truly share!

Also, I think it has amazing implications for news media. With local newspapers in trouble - this poses interesting possibilities.

Re: Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

Nathan — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 01:10:58 -0000

Nice work. Watch out Brightkite. As a Palm user, this is "useless" to a point. But hey, hope everyone else with a phone that was developed post-1995 and is still being supported enjoys this.