Be careful what you measure because measuring affects what you measure. You'll probably end up travelling a lot more, probably driving more and so on.
Fog of World
81–90 of 160 posts
Re: Fog of World
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
* An Android version would also bring added benefits of smarter/less battery intensive background operation which could make this run all the time. Constant GPS-monitoring like Latitude or this seems to run way better on Android for some reason. * I'm curious, what makes you think this would more power efficient on Android?
This is purely speculative, but I think there are a couple of reasons why apps like this runs better on Android. I think it mainly boils down to the fact that app developers on Android have much more freedom than on iOS, for example - instead of having to run the whole app in the background they can just run a small daemon. Android apps don't resort to weird workarounds, like in regular intervals doing something that…
Foursquare's experience developing apps that use background location has been the exact opposite.
The iOS background location APIs are so restrictive precisely so that you can't drain the battery. The OS, which is running anyway, can listen for major changes in location and start your app only if the location change is relevant to your application.
On Android, your app has to be running in the background always, to constantly check for such changes itself, which significantly drains the battery. If several such apps are running...
Re: Fog of World
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
All this boring travel you disdain encompasses 95% of tourism spending. It may be boring to you, but it's hard for me to get mad at a product that targets a market that huge.
95% of existing tourism spending. There's a big untapped market out there.
It's true. The stuff off the beaten path usually hasn't been commercialized. Thus it makes sense why it would only account for 5% of the spending
Re: Fog of World
#84Correction — "Know the Area You Have Explored Around the World, Around A Continent, Or Even Around A Country, Where Your Phone Had A Full Battery, GPS Was Available, And There Was Reliable Electricity For Recharging!" This is dumb. Any given user is going to have massive holes in their map, which, at least according to my experience, will be the best parts of their trips — the parts where they didn't have their phone…
A lot of seriously dedicated "off-the-beaten-track" types will have solar chargers for their iPhones (or whatever), GPS works everywhere except near US Military Bases.
I hope they've been judicious in their use of power while in the background. It seems like a cool idea to me. I can easily imagine simply trying to fill in the area I live in much the same way as I would explore nooks and crannies in dungeons maps.
Re: Fog of World
#85This is revolutionary, I've always been a advocate of incorporating a gaming atmosphere into everyday activities. This is a great push in that direction!
Re: Fog of World
#86Correction — "Know the Area You Have Explored Around the World, Around A Continent, Or Even Around A Country, Where Your Phone Had A Full Battery, GPS Was Available, And There Was Reliable Electricity For Recharging!" This is dumb. Any given user is going to have massive holes in their map, which, at least according to my experience, will be the best parts of their trips — the parts where they didn't have their phone…
The official Google maps app has an offline mode that works great for me at least.
http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2012/06/go-offline-with-g...
Re: Fog of World
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
What he means is that most people, including those in his social circle, are irrational about paying for apps, and so won't use it.
Are they being irrational? Most apps are opened once, twice at most. A small percentage of apps downloaded are used at all after the first day on the user's device. A very few make it into daily use; and most of those are on the device the day it's purchased. This is because most apps are not compelling experiences. If you factor in the risk that this app, like most of the ones they have seen so far; will not be in t…
All good points. I was mostly responding to the GGP's snark.
Re: Fog of World
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
What he means is that most people, including those in his social circle, are irrational about paying for apps, and so won't use it.
Are they being irrational? Most apps are opened once, twice at most. A small percentage of apps downloaded are used at all after the first day on the user's device. A very few make it into daily use; and most of those are on the device the day it's purchased. This is because most apps are not compelling experiences. If you factor in the risk that this app, like most of the ones they have seen so far; will not be in t…
Just curious, are there any sites which show most-used apps?
Re: Fog of World
#89Correction — "Know the Area You Have Explored Around the World, Around A Continent, Or Even Around A Country, Where Your Phone Had A Full Battery, GPS Was Available, And There Was Reliable Electricity For Recharging!" This is dumb. Any given user is going to have massive holes in their map, which, at least according to my experience, will be the best parts of their trips — the parts where they didn't have their phone…
The official Google maps app has an offline mode that works great for me at least. http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2012/06/go-offline-with-g...
Awesome! Thanks for the tip.
Re: Fog of World
#90When I used to live in SF, I would always go on walks and explore the city. I found that it would take several visits before I could fully remember the details of a new route or area, but once I knew that place I would move onto a new area. This was enjoyable and I got to see the innards of a beautiful city. Now this? Congratulations, you have turned a peaceful and enjoyable experience into a slot machine. Now rather…
Not to pick a fight, but is there something specific about this product that you feel crosses the line? To me your complaint has a similar ring to Plato's on writing (http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/wordscape/museum/plato.html). My point is that technologies such as this app have a long lineage, have faced similar complaints, and eventually the complaints disappear as we incorporate the technologies and move on. You might be right that a certain magic is lost, but overall the trend is strongly towards cognitive efficiency at the expense of magic. Or am I missing your point?