LBS – real proposition or just added value?
By Alfie • Jan 4th, 2009 • Category: LBS, imaging, mobile, mobile_imaging, networksI’ve been thinking about LBS quite a lot lately as we integrate LBS features into the new Moblog platform. There are a *bunch* of interesting things happening in LBS, and I’ve tried pretty much all of them. So far the only combinations that have proved in any way even marginally compelling (for me) are A-GPS for geotagging images and GPS+Wikinear (Fire-eagle mediating).
One of Androids “killer apps” is Commandro
“A GPS-enhanced social networking app that lets you map and track your friends in real time while using the IM function to plan impromptu meet-ups on the go.”
So I find myself thinking, “ok, what use case/problem does this solve?”. I don’t think it solves anything, it just creates complexity. It offers new tools to address issues that are already solved with the least number of clicks – text/IM: “where are you, shall we meet up?” does this faster and more effectively than LBS/GPS tracking. I’m missing a bit of thinking here, and that thinking is “Yeah but, new tools = new *ways* of addressing problems, and that process itself yields new processes, ways of thinking, and ultimately ways of behaving”.
I get that, I do – but! It still doesn’t present a compelling enough proposition for me to actively use a service like that (take your pick); too few people are using them so the data isn’t there and the onus is on me to pester people to join somewhere, when they do, that use generally relies on an always on application on my handset, and for the other person to have the same! Don’t get me wrong, I think LBS services especially in social media will have it’s day, I just think that the service as platform is quite a way away, in the meantime we can use the technology on adding additional value to existing services that people *actually* use.
A-GPS tagging of images is a BIG value add, both for the network and the user. From the users point of view, as long as the platform they are using is intelligent enough, you can do all sorts of things when you’ve married content to location. You can play games, lead friends on a chase, create custom maps of areas and invite friends to populate and further customise those places, plot your life on a timeline; a roadmap of your experiences. This marriage of content and location adds a rich data seam which when combined with search can throw out some truly amazing results and offer opportunities for new applications and services we just haven’t imagined yet. This approach is most similiar to wikinear, adding as it does relevant information to location. It’s richer though, because that information is from friends or people in your broader network.
Using Fire-eagle (a beautifully designed platform) it’s clear that the central proposition behind it is privacy. This assumes that privacy is something which requires a 3rd party arbiter or mediator. I don’t know that that’s the case – let’s take Moblog as an example. In your profile you can set whether you want your current location or geotagged images to be shared, and if shared, specifically to: Anyone | Friends | Registered users | Third Parties (incoming API calls etc). So it’s the users chosen platform which should be smart enough to provide all the privacy options which will determine how that location data gets used. Why do we need a third party mediator for this data? I’m a bit dense and honestly I’d really appreciate your thinking on this, because clearly there *are* good reasons otherwise a bunch of smart people wouldn’t have been involved.
I don’t want to ramble; I’d really like to understand how people are actively using LBS in ways which enrich their lives outside of using LBS as a value add to existing services, so please add your thinking here. (waits….no comments…sigh 
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Alfie is a web and mobile troublemaker.
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