Serendipity is wonderful, but it doesn’t happen often. For every enriching coincidence – meeting someone who becomes a lifelong friend or lifelong partner, finding that fantastic hidden restaurant – we miss how many? Dozens, maybe hundreds of other lucky opportunities?
Now several tech startups are trying to increase the odds of connection.
How? By combining intimate knowledge of your comings and goings with understanding of your likes and dislikes – then connecting you with likeminded people and perfect places.
What do they ask in return? For most, an opportunity to push hyper-specific ads or discount offers.
At a congressional hearing about complaints over phones storing the location of their users, you certainly wouldn’t expect a government agency to request such activity be made law. But that’s exactly what the Justice Department did Tuesday in Washington, D.C., asking lawmakers to consider such legislation.
It’s not full-fledged multitasking, but Loopt will be the first third-party app to send out information even when you’re not actively using it.
How many times in your life have you called someone to tell him or her where you were–or to admit that you had no idea where you were? If your sense of direction is as lousy as mine, the answer is “lots.”