imho: the only major obstacle left to make mobile geoservices like this
real, is the obstinacy of mobile wirelesss carriers refusing to giving
users access to their own coordinates and device location APIs to geo
app & service developers. - mike
http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9667151-2.html?subj=Webware%E2%88%82=rss&tag=feed
<http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9667151-2.html?subj=Webware%E2%88%82=rss&tag=feed>
*A Webware challenge: Make cell phones better lifelines
<http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9667151-2.html?tag=blog>*
By Rafe Needleman
<http://www.webware.com/8300-1_109-2.html?authorId=173&tag=blog> -
December 7, 2006, 2:58 PM PST
Shortly after we got the crushing news of James Kim's death, I received
an e-mail from a human resources person here at CNET. She wrote, "I
would love to see a Web site dedicated to the safety of employees.
Employees should be able to submit their travel routes and whereabouts.
Whether it's on a road trip or visiting an apartment listed on
Craigslist, providing information on where employees are and the related
circumstances may be extremely helpful in the event that an emergency or
dangerous situation occurs."
I forwarded this idea to several people who run mapping and life story
start-ups, and I received heartfelt offers to participate in the
creation of such a system, especially from Platial
<http://www.platial.com> and OurStory <http://www.ourstory.com>. Today
I've been talking with a few people here and the idea is evolving. I
wanted to share the latest.
What we need is a fail-safe service that will raise the alarm when a
person goes missing. There should be a Web service where you enter your
itinerary and personal contact information. At each scheduled waypoint,
the service calls your mobile phone or sends you a text message, simply
asking, "Have you arrived safely at your destination?" If you have, you
say so. If you don't answer, the system moves to the next step: It tries
again, it tries alternate numbers (your hotel, the airline, the car
rental company, and so on), and if you cannot be reached or located, it
calls your designated contacts, who can determine whether to contact
emergency personnel in the appropriate area. (If no one can be reached,
it could escalate automatically.)
Such a system could be built into a mapping service or integrated into a
trip-planning site, such as Orbitz or Travelocity. Or it could just be a
stand-alone "flight plan" system for all of us.
The advantage is that it wouldn't needlessly bug family or friends until
you were actually not responding to hails. (Of course it would need to
be integrated with flight tracking so that it didn't assume you were
missing when your flight was simply delayed.)
Disadvantages? Several. What if you're overseas and your phone doesn't
work? What if you deviate from your plans and are fine, but you're out
of touch when you said you'd be reachable? What of you're just moving
through a poor cell phone coverage area? I don't claim that this idea is
foolproof as written, but I do believe that something like it could help
people who get in into trouble when traveling.
If anybody knows of such a system, or plans to build one, e-mail me
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or leave comments on this post. I'll report
back if it gets traction.
(Actually finding a missing person or group is another challenge, but I
am sure there are solutions, yet to be built, that could help there,
too--including technological platforms that could more quickly and
easily locate cell phones even when they are not in service areas, and
policies and procedures to release that data in a timely manner.)
Cell phones are already lifelines
<http://news.com.com/Turning+cell+phones+into+lifelines/2100-1039_3-6140794.html>.
Let's make them better ones.
Sean
*Sean Ness*
Business Development Manager
**Institute for the Future**
Office: 650.233.9517
Cell: 408.406.7597
Main: 650.854.6322
Fax: 650.233.9417
[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <blocked::mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>>
IFTF's Future Now Blog - _<_http://future.iftf.org/
<blocked::http://future.iftf.org/>_>
_IFTF's Virtual China Blog - <http://www.virtual-china.org/
<blocked::http://www.virtual-china.org/>>
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