The Next Revolution: Why The New iPhone Matters
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A revolution is easy to spot when looking backward, but they are much harder to see when they first happen. Microsoft, Apple, eBay, Amazon…all revolutions with ramifications that weren’t seen until much after they first released a product, or came online.
But I predict a revolution in an event that took place just a few days ago at the Worldwide Developers Conference, where Steve Jobs announced the latest version of the iPhone. I know, I know, you’re thinking that I missed the boat. The iPhone revolution already took place; this is old news.
But there is something in this iPhone that in my opinion will change things dramatically in the coming year: GPS.
GPS on the iPhone has the potential to allow users to link content to a specific location. For years, as I’ve talked with colleagues about this topic, the single biggest hurdle we’ve seen is the hardware problem. First there wasn’t a device that provided everything “all in one.” Then, as devices started to have the necessary features, few people actually owned them.
With the new iPhone we now have a device that provides access to the Internet, true GPS navigation, and the ability to record audio and take pictures. What does that give us?
Information is useful, but information given in context is even more so. That is why 100 years ago if you wanted to learn about barrel making, you didn’t go to the library, you became an apprentice. You learned the information at the location where it made the most sense.
Today, we have access to almost limitless amounts of information. Much of this information is about the physical world around us. A user can learn about species of plants and animals, virtually visit far away lands, or read about the history of places around the globe. Unfortunately, as soon as the user steps away from their computer and into the outside world, their access to this information is severed.
My family and I just went to Oceanside, California and enjoyed some time at a lovely beach. While there I wondered what the weather would be like tomorrow. I wondered if there were any tricks to body surfing, or if there was a place nearby that rented boogie boards.
Imagine if I could have turned on my iPhone and found articles and contents left by other users. The information would have been delivered to me not by searching for it, but based on my location. Users might have linked the location of the beach to Wikipedia articles on surfing, local weather, eateries, current tide conditions, news about recent shark attacks, etc. There may have even been information that I found useful that I wouldn’t have thought to search for.
Sure, there are times when I want to turn off technology and just get outside. But there are also times when I want to learn about the great outdoors, and I’d rather be doing it out in the sun, than stuck in front of a screen.
I predict that in the coming months and years, we will see the information age leave the basements and stuffy rooms of our houses, and break out into the great outdoors.
Note: This article cross-posted at Chickens Don’t Have Armpits.
6 Comments 
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June 11th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Am I the only one who has serious concerns (most privacy) with the new GPS iPhone? Think of how much more invasive advertisements could get. You think those “Find a partner in Los Angeles now” ads are bad, imagine when they are telling you that there is some tramp down the street from where you are at. You know how many tracking cookie there are now, what if they start getting tied to your physical location. It may be a revolution, but just like the Internet in general, it won’t all be good.
June 11th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
It’s important to note that a GPS receive is just that, a receiver. You are not reporting your location to the government, rather you are receiving data from satellites. Your GPS device then figures out where it is and relays that information to you.
Now when you do a search based on location, that is a different matter. You are telling the search engine where you are. However, search engines would keep that information just as private as they now keep your regular searches. You can search for laxatives with a reasonable assurance that Google isn’t going to tell all your friends that your a bit backed up. Likewise, Google will deliver ads and information based on where you are, but they aren’t about to tell the worlds where you are currently located.
June 11th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
I understand that GPS is one way, but the services you envision aren’t. I guess I’m not as comfortable with Google knowing that much about where I am. I bet the people whose searches were made public by AOL never thought that AOL would do that.
To be honest, I think a lot of the effort around extremely location specific marketing is overblown. There certainly are opportunities for cool new things, but I think a lot of the hoopla is just the emperor’s new clothes.
Some location specific things like the yellow pages are no better (often times worse IMO) on the web than the paper variant. The regular yellow pages cost a lot more to advertise in which discourages “noise”, but online search results include so much “noise” it is insane.
I feel like location specific marketing is going to have a low signal to noise ratio.
June 11th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
You raise some good points. However, Google already knows where you are, unless you use specific software that hides where you’re searching from. Or if you do a search about Disneyland hotels, Google knows where you’re going. Which could be seen as an invasion of privacy, or it can be helpful (because you find a nice hotel).
Remember, however, that it’s not just about marketing. Google maps just added photos and Wikipedia articles to their service. This is useful information to have while surfing around virtually, but in my mind much more useful/interesting when you’re actually at the location.
And I’m sure there will be location based twitter services, where friends/family can leave messages about certain locations that only those in their social network can see.
Or location based games such as geocaching and wherigo.
I think there are many exciting possibilities, and while location based searching might help me find a burger, I’m much more excited about the educational possibilities.
And as far as privacy goes…I think as long as there is a line in the sand, I don’t have a problem with it.
June 11th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Google only knows relatively where I *probably* am since IP-based geolocation is far from perfect. It usually only narrows down what city you are in, and sometime it gets it completely wrong (as in >1000 miles off). That is very different than knowing exactly where I live, exactly where I work, exactly where I go day to day.
You can say it isn’t just about marketing and talk about what Google Maps added, but the whole purpose of Google Maps and Google in general is to make money selling advertising. Your location will be used in that cause.
No doubt there will be some interesting things with location, but I don’t think there will be near as many profitable businesses around it. And some of the businesses around it will be borderline/annoying.
As for the line in the sand, describe where it is and how you’ll be certain Google doesn’t trample it, and tell me what it is like when someone crosses it.
To be honest, I’m not even as worried about Google as all of the other start-ups around this stuff. With how bad Twitter’s infrastructure has been shown to be, can you imagine how bad their security probably is? Your privacy will only be as secure as the weakest link.
June 11th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
I guess I don’t understand the need for nobody knowing where you are or where you are going. Most people have their address and phone number listed in the phone book. If I want to find a good burger joint, or a brick and mortar, I need to enter in the city or more often the address of the residence or hotel to where I’m am. The only difference with the iPhone is now you can do it on the road, instead tied to a wire.
As for the line in the sand, I think Google has defined it quite well. They keep track of information you search for, key words in your e-mail (I notice you use gmail, so I would be willing to bet Google knows roughly where you live, and very likely your address and phone number, if not your pants size), and they use that to hook you up with goods, services, and content you may be interested in. They do so in what I see as a fairly non-intrusive way. If they give that information to a third party, they have crossed the line.
There are certainly downsides, and there will be cases that will be blown out of proportion, but I still see the positives outweighing the negatives. Remember, I don’t imagine you will be broadcasting your position all the time, it will be a single ‘hit’ that tells a server where you are, and then retrieves content relevant to that location.