February 5, 2009 | In: Uncategorized
Why Should Anyone Use Google Latitude?
I’m pretty open to new ideas and I think I’ve proven from this blog and my Twitter account that I’m okay with putting a lot of myself, and my opinions, online for public distribution. I think I draw the line at my readers, or anyone for that matter, knowing where I am at any given point during the day.
Google announced today a new program/application called Google Latitude where you can set your phone up in such a way that others can see where you are at all times. You can enable privacy options where only your friends can see where you are and the program can, but doesn’t have to, set your location automatically (you can set it manually).
I don’t see anything inherently wrong with this program. The right privacy options are installed so that users won’t get stalked too easily. But my question really is why would anyone want to use this? I honestly can’t think of a good reason to use this at all. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
14 Responses to Why Should Anyone Use Google Latitude?
Barry
February 5th, 2009 at 1:07 am
Two (similar) valid uses that I see:
1) To see where your family is, make sure they’re safe (made it home from the party, at a friend’s house)
2) To see which one of your friends are nearby, so you can get together for a drink
Of course, there are many more insidious potential uses…but they’ve taken the right approach with opt-in only.
Dave
February 5th, 2009 at 1:09 am
This is similiar to the My Moving Map app already available on the Apple App Store, which roughly does this already. People use it to embed their current position on their blog or website. It’s pretty cool actually. You can also find mates easily. See http://www.mymovingmap.com
Ely Rosenstock
February 5th, 2009 at 1:10 am
@Barry
1) I only see this being useful if you’re dealing with children. And if so, I would want something that my kid can’t turn off.
2) I could see this being useful I guess but that’s little benefit for giving up a huge part of your privacy.
Ely Rosenstock
February 5th, 2009 at 1:13 am
@Dave
I hope you can innovate beyond what Google is offering. Google is not a company you want to compete with directly.
Kenny
February 5th, 2009 at 3:35 am
I remember a few years ago NY cab drivers were upset when their bosses were going to install GPS devices in their cars to track their location.
I think it could be fun for location-based gaming (like laser tag or paint ball). In general though, I agree that it is too much info to be putting out there.
Btw, there was a recent story in wired about a similar app (http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/magazine/17-02/lp_guineapig) – apparently people use these services to find random hookups…
Dave
February 5th, 2009 at 8:06 am
@Ely Well, if Google are going to break into my friend-finding market then I’m going to break into their Search market. I’ve therefore released Davidoogle http://www.daviddn.com/davidoogle/ – let that be a lesson to them
Scott
February 5th, 2009 at 11:17 am
look at loopt, brightkite, dopplr, fireeagle….there are a number of location-based social services out there already. the problem with them is the user base – very few people use, let alone know about, them and therefore some of their usefulness (i.e. finding friends nearby, see where in the world friends are, etc.) is limited.
bring in google with their massive user base. friends add this to their phone or use their pc’s and now you have all the usefulness described above. as a consultant who travels every week, it’d be great to pull up my google maps and see who’s near me at any given time.
google doesn’t publish any of your location information to anyone that you don’t give specific access to, and you can set the level of detail (exact location or just a city view) so you still have privacy even amongst your friends.
everyone who is against this – that’s fine, i can understand your reasoning – but wait a year and i’ll bet this is as commonplace as people using facebook (which when it first came out was “putting too much information about yourself online…why would anyone want to do that??”).
Ely Rosenstock
February 5th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
@Dave
I love it. Go get em!
Ely Rosenstock
February 5th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
@Scott
You make a good point, but I think Loopt and other services like it didn’t work because people weren’t that interested in displaying their location. A large enough user base is important but Loopt has been around for a while with a great set of services and it hasn’t gone mainstream (not even in the techie world).
Most tech people have heard of Loopt and yet no one uses it. Google will provide a bigger user base but I still think the underlying instinct of people is not to display their whereabouts everywhere. And while your Facebook comparison is valid, I think this product will end up in the dumpster in a few years.
Scott
February 5th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
@Ely Rosenstock
good points…i guess only time will tell. until then, i’ll be using Google Latitude and hoping it integrates its statuses to twitter or other services like ping.fm so i can go one place, update my status and/or location, and let my friends know about it.
brian
February 9th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
this is great if you lose your phone will hiking or something! quickly borrow a friends phone to find your phone if your phone is off, silent, or dead.
Yehuda Farkas
February 12th, 2009 at 12:47 am
I don’t see any particularly useful feature in this google option either, but can say with certainty that the brilliant people at google think people want this. Why else would they devote thousands of hours of manpower, and millions of dollars in R&D developing this? Advertising? I think not. Someone at the very successful and innovative google thinks this is a hot idea. I’m no great businessman, but I’ll jump inline if google thinks something’s gonna sell.
Yehuda Farkas
Ely Rosenstock
February 12th, 2009 at 1:02 am
@Yehuda Farkas
Here is a list of failed Google products:
* Google Video
* Google Catalog Search
* Google Notebook
* Dodgeball
* Jaiku
* Google Mashup Editor
* Froogle
And there are more. So not everything Google touches is a winner.
Scott Elkin
February 12th, 2009 at 7:09 am
I for one love it. It is a lot of fun seeing where you friends are in the city. It makes you feel a little less alone.
And since you control the privacy setting and can turn it off at will, what is the downside?