The article i read is about Google's Latitude. Latitude is a news and communication tools that is able to provide more relevant information to you by recognizing where you are. Also it allows your location to be tracked and you to track others location. Currently I have somewhat neutral opinions on this. I feel as if in some cases it could be really cool and helpful and in other cases it could be somewhat creepy/ stalker-ish.
On the positive side I think it's really neat how it can deliver information and news to you based on where you are located, especially if you are traveling it could be really helpful. Also I think it would be neat if you have a friend or family member that is traveling, you could track their trip. For example, one of my friends is currently on semester at sea and I think it would be really cool if I could see where she is located as they travel.
On the negative side, I know that there are privacy settings that you can set for this, but on a normal basis, I honestly don't think I would ever want anyone knowing where I am at all times. Also, some people are very naive and might let someone that they don't know very well track them, which could end up being a bad situation.
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I wrote about Google Latitude also, and I agree with what you have to say. The creepy aspect is...very creepy. This is another way for technology to make it easier for people to find out things that could hurt us.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, easy access to this technology means that soon our children won't understand what it is to be lost. We will go about our day figuring out our orientation to geography and our social network as many times as we message someone now. It's very cliche to say this, but science fiction has become reality.
Like every other technology that changes our lives irrevocably, some other part of our lives will have to change as well, to balance it out. In this case it's our privacy, as it usually is with tech advances.
(Yay, participation grade! ;) )
Anne-Marie,
ReplyDeleteI agree that I don't always want everyone to know where I am at all times. I have friends who are annoyed because sometimes I turn my cell phone off, but sometimes I just don't want to be reached. It seems like a healthy think to want to be able to get away from the world.