Vlad's Tumbles

I do understand that the ‘check in, get points to beat your friends, get badges’ mechanic taps into what we call ‘game theory’ which dictates that if you give people things to do and rewards (even ones without any real value) they will have a natural compulsion to complete the tasks and collect the rewards. That’s great for Foursquare, the mechanic is getting people using their service in droves. But to what actual end? What use is any of this to its users? When I’m on my deathbed am I going to think to myself “what was this life all about? What did I do for the world? Oh, I got the ‘Douchebag’ badge and ten others on Foursquare! I wonder if I can check in at heaven’s gates…

Finally, someone besides me and Tomi Ahonen says what needs to be said.

Location BS. That’s what I believe “LBS” stands for.

The future may be bright, but it surely isn’t bright for apps that just let you “chek in” to somewhere. Location may get huge, but as a feature, not as an app/product/service in itself.

This has all been said before, but what I mean is that location will (probably) be integrated into more and more services and products, as GPS sensors are included into more and more gear, and locating people/devices is increasingly possible in different manners (WiFi, cell tower, and so on).

But having an app or a service that just lets you announce the world where you are? And then build a database of all the places you’ve been “for you”?

Not a chance.

It’s time these services actually do something with the location data they collect, something other than give stalkers a field day everyday. I’m looking forward to that.

And you know what’s funny? This all started thanks to the Nokia N95.