
See where your friends are with Google Latitude - mqt
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/see-where-your-friends-are-with-google.html
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alexandros
While 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
I think there's a pretty solid trail of startups who have tried and failed to
make a compelling use case for it so far.

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ajju
Sharing 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.

~~~
wallflower
If sharing the location is not the neat feature - perhaps it's
visualizing/mining that information accrued over your daily life/time. Here's
some concepts from MIT

<http://web.media.mit.edu/~orkan/projects/portraits/main.html>

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brkumar
Seems 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/>

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RiderOfGiraffes
Already posted:

Here: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=465458>

Here: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=465359>

Oddly, they're both by the same person.

~~~
jacquesm
and here: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=465494>

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buro9
Oh well, there goes Bright Kite.

~~~
physcab
And Loopt.

Which makes me wonder, how does everyone deal with the prospect of competition
from Google?

I had an awesome idea for a startup, worked on it for a few months during
graduate school...and then Google announced they were getting into the space.
I just about crapped myself.

~~~
jacquesm
I seriously wouldn't worry about it too much. They either do or they don't
it's a bit like the weather, it will influence you but since you can't control
it you might as well simply adapt to it.

If it wouldn't be for that then you could never do anything at all for fear of
some 'force of nature' coming along and destroying it.

And who knows, maybe you'll be better at it than they ever will be simply
because you are focusing on just one thing instead of on 50.

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michaelneale
Am 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).

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redorb
I 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
BrightKite does this too, including photo updates.

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almost
This 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.

~~~
gravitycop
_I 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
No, I didn't. And that kind of eliminates those concerns a bit.

Apologies for my lack of reading-all-the-way-throughness

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schoudha
Loopt 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
"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.

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froo
With Google's Latitude, I might finally learn where on earth Carmen Sandiego
is.

This might make <http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/> redundant, if you know
where he is all the time.

Mixed feelings about this Google, mixed feelings indeed.

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dc2k08
Surprising 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?

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anuraggoel
It'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?

