Boy am I excited about Google’s new latitude product. See initial review here. This is for a couple reasons. First, it is just a cool product with great potential. Second, maybe this will pressure Facebook to finally release the location features they have been working on.
When the iPhone was released with location features, I celebrated. Here was a platform that finally let people make all the cool location apps the telecoms had restricted through their overbearing management practices. On release, a few Apple presentations featured the social networking App Loopt. I quickly downloaded it, eager to get the benefits I imagined sharing my location with friends would bring. Only problem is, my friends will never be on Loopt. This app had a network / critical mass problem in the worst way.
I briefly experimented with the idea of building a simple location app with plans to use it at MIT Sloan. (Even made a prototype) Only problem was, I heard that Google was working on almost the same thing. How would Google build the network? Didn’t they have the same problem as Loopt? Then Google took advantage of the original social networking app… E-mail. Genius. They have built in links from Gmail that are easy to import. They don’t have it as easy as another company however….
Facebook needs to get on with it.
I have already confirmed that Facebook is working on location. (not that its not an obvious direction anyway) This is why Loopt is doomed. Facebook has the network. All they have to do it turn on this “feature” and they have critical mass is built in. I have been told the reason Facebook has not released location services yet is that it has an obsessive concern with privacy. They want to make sure to get it right. This is good, but get on with already. Now that Google has Latitude, maybe Facebook will be a lot more motivated.
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