Wednesday, January 21st, 2009
How is GPS Changing Your Life?
Wired has a good little article today about how GPS is changing our lives and I couldn’t agree more. I remember back almost two years ago when I got my first phone that contained a GPS (and it wasn’t an iPhone, because Apple wasn’t the first to the game on that one). It came with TomTom running on it as well as integration with the “My Location” feature on Google Maps Mobile. I used it the first time about 3 days after acquiring the phone while on a trip to Lovely Ohio. I’d landed, hopped in a cab, and after a string of past cab screw overs, decided I was going to look up the best route to my hotel and follow it as we drove, to avoid ‘the long way’ and getting over charged. It was this funny feeling, like when you get your favorite toy for Christmas or something, a feeling of excitement and awe. I was mostly just impressed at how simple it all seemed yet confused that it’d taken so long to figure it out for phone (and how i was SO going to rub this in all my iPhone-ownin’ friend’s faces because I’d finally 1-upped them on something). Now with my newest device (the G1 running Android) its even as simple as scanning a bar code with the camera and letting the app not only find my exact location but then display the closest stores carrying the product I desire and the price they offer. I can simple then click the store icon and call them directly.
Ultimately, I think we’re just barely scratching the surface of this new wave of precise location based application, but its interesting to see what’s already being done and how that will shape the things to come. Should be another exciting wave of technology the next couple years.
Inside the GPS Revolution: 10 Applications That Make the Most of Location
